India shows growth after a slump of Chinese textile exports to United States

After a year that saw a turmoil in their export business due to the rupee's rise, India's textile and garment companies seem poised to post a dramatic turnaround in the US market, mainly aided by a clutch of developments that undermined China's comparative advantage in this market.

Indian textile and clothing (T&C) exporters, who faced negative growth in the US market for 10 months up to December 2007, posted a 0.53% growth in dollar terms in February 2008. The turnaround was more evident in March, with a growth of 8.26%.

India, along with other major textile producing countries like China, Bangladesh and Vietnam, posted a spurt in textile exports to the quota-markets (the US and EU) immediately after the abolition of quotas in 2005. However, by April 2007, this trend was reversed for India by the sudden rise of rupee, even as others marched ahead.

China is still the largest supplier of textiles and garments to the US, with export orders worth $32.3 billion or a third of total US imports in 2007 against India's exports of $5.1 billion, which has registered a negative growth (-2.57%) in exports to the US in January-March 2008.