US buyers poised for massive buy-up of local textiles

Despite some bruising knocks the apparel and textile sector remains a force to be reckoned with

“Leading American brands, many of whom are members of AmCham, consider Vietnam to be one of the world’s most capable and reliable apparel production platforms,” said David Knapp, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.
In the first 10 months of the year, Vietnam shipped $3.33 billion in textiles to the US, or 52 per cent of total Vietnamese apparel exports.
“Vietnam is considered to be one of the few countries that can compete with, and in some cases exceed China, in the apparel industry,” Knapp said.
The AmCham leader made the remark after the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced last week that there was insufficient evidence to warrant an anti-dumping investigation on apparel imports from Vietnam.
“This is good news. AmCham has been concerned that the DOC program to monitor imports of apparels from Vietnam would create uncertainty and risk,” Knapp said. “Factories in Vietnam and US importers/retailers were worried orders might move from Vietnam to other countries that are not subject to this same monitoring program.”
Jocelyn Tran, country manager of the Mast Industries Limited, one of the biggest US buyers of Vietnam’s apparel products, said the decision “spread quicker than a wild fire”.
“We have to say thanks to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) of Vietnam for its efforts to check and control quality and shipment prices to the US market during the past (six) months,” Tran said.
“We hope the MoIT will continue its own monitoring work so as to maintain the status-quo.”
Tran, however, said she was still concerned that the DOC may not remove the monitoring programme until the end of Bush Administration in late 2008. The continuation of the programme would cause anxiety amongst US buyers.
“Almost no American buyers agree with this scheme. But we also perceive that with the complication of the US political situation, the DOC will likely maintain the program until the end of next year,” Tran said.
Vietnam’s apparel industry has been a driving force for growth with US imports of apparel accounting for around 40 per cent of Vietnam’s total exports to the world’s largest economy. The industry overtook crude oil as the leading earner of foreign currency for the first time with export revenue reaching $6.1 billion in the first 10 months of this year.