Bangladesh Apparel Exports to US Decline Amid Broader Global Trade Slowdown

Bangladesh's readymade garment shipments to the United States contracted 2.54 percent to $5.59 billion during the July-March period of the current fiscal year, according to Export Promotion Bureau data compiled by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and reported by The Daily Star. The contraction in the country's single-largest apparel destination comes alongside a 6.99 percent decline in European Union shipments, pulling aggregate RMG earnings down 5.51 percent year-on-year to $28.58 billion for the nine-month window.

Deterioration across major destinations

The US accounts for roughly 20 percent of Bangladesh's annual apparel exports, making the 2.54 percent drop a material drag on headline performance. Shipments to the United Kingdom — the third-largest destination with a 12 percent market share — fell 1.61 percent to $3.30 billion, while Canada-bound exports edged down 0.26 percent to $961.34 million. The sharper deterioration appeared in non-traditional markets, where volumes declined 8.05 percent, signalling that demand softness extends well beyond the transatlantic core. EU-bound flows, which constitute 49 percent of total apparel exports, fell to $14.02 billion, confirming that the contraction is broad-based rather than concentrated in any single bilateral corridor.

A resilient July against an elevated base

The nine-month decline sits in apparent tension with the opening-month performance for fiscal 2026-27. Bangladesh Post reported July 2026 RMG exports at $3.89 billion — a modest 1.92 percent dip against July 2025, which recorded the highest single-month export figure in the country's history. Within that aggregate, woven garments bore the heavier contraction at minus 3.16 percent year-on-year, while knitwear posted a more contained 0.90 percent decline. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has framed the print as a welcome start given the elevated comparative base, though producers continue to navigate a domestic gas crisis that constrains capacity utilization alongside persistent geopolitical disruptions to global supply chains.

Structural constraints versus shifting market share

Prothom Alo English's framing — that China is rapidly losing US market share while Bangladesh remains unable to capitalise — captures the structural tension behind the aggregate data. With the Federal Reserve holding policy rates steady following a divided July 2026 FOMC session, the US demand environment for discretionary apparel imports is unlikely to receive a near-term monetary tailwind. What bears close monitoring is whether domestic producers can convert vacated Chinese share into incremental volume, or whether capacity-side constraints — gas supply reliability, working-capital costs, and order-book composition — continue to suppress the sector's responsiveness to shifting competitive dynamics. The next BGMEA release will offer the first concrete indicator of whether the fiscal 2026-27 trajectory diverges meaningfully from the contraction registered through March.