In the first four months of this year, China's home textiles maintained a steady growth overall, with cumulative exports reaching 10.28 billion US dollars, up 1.9% year-on-year. In April alone, due to the Trump administration's imposition of high tariffs totaling 145% on Chinese goods exported to the United States, China's home textile exports to the US dropped significantly. However, exports to non-US markets maintained strong resilience.
The segmented products maintained stable growth
Bedding, carpets, bedspreads, kitchen and bathroom textiles, curtains, towels and tablecloths are the main sub-products of China's home textile exports. In the first four months, bedding exports reached 4.52 billion US dollars, increasing by 2.7%. Carpet exports reached 1.42 billion US dollars, increasing by 3.7%. The export of kitchen and bathroom textiles reached 1.03 billion US dollars, increasing by 0.8%. The export of curtains reached 990 million US dollars, increasing by 6.5%. The export of bed blankets reached 950 million US dollars, increasing by 0.2%. The export of towels was 590 million US dollars, a decrease of 5%. Tablecloth exports reached 220 million US dollars, a decrease of 10.2%. Exports of other products reached 570 million US dollars, increasing by 1.7%.
Exports to the United States have slowed down while non-US markets have remained generally stable
The top five markets for China's home textile exports are the United States, the European Union, ASEAN, Japan and Australia. In the first four months, China's exports to the United States reached 3.14 billion US dollars, increasing by 0.4% year-on-year. The proportion of China's home textile exports dropped to 30.5%. Exports to the European Union reached 1.35 billion US dollars, increasing by 11.3% year-on-year and accounting for 13.2%. Exports to ASEAN were 990 million US dollars, a decrease of 23%, accounting for 9.6%. Exports to Japan were 760 million US dollars, a decrease of 2.4%, accounting for 7.4%. Exports to Australia were 350 million US dollars, a decrease of 7.7%, accounting for 3.4%.
In the first four months, exports to the six countries of the Middle East Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reached 430 million US dollars, an increase of 2.1%. Exports to the five Central Asian countries reached 380 million US dollars, increasing by 25.6%. Among them, exports to Kyrgyzstan soared by 61%. Exports to Africa reached 480 million US dollars, increasing by 27.4% significantly. Exports to Latin America reached 760 million US dollars, increasing by 30.2% significantly.
In April alone, affected by Trump's additional tariffs, China's home textile exports decreased by 2.1% year-on-year. Among them, exports to the United States dropped by 18.9%, while combined exports to non-US markets increased by 5.7%.
Zhejiang saw strong growth while Shandong and Guangdong declined
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong and Shanghai are the top five regions for China's home textile exports. In the first four months, Zhejiang's exports reached 3.49 billion US dollars, increasing by 9.7%. Jiangsu's exports reached 2.17 billion US dollars, increasing by 1.6%. Shandong's exports reached 1.33 billion US dollars, a decrease of 2.4%. Guangdong's exports decreased by 14.2%, while Shanghai's exports increased by 6.4%. Among other regions, Xinjiang's exports increased by 32.5%. Guangxi soared by 42.5%.
China's share in the international market has remained basically stable
In the first quarter, the United States imported home textiles worth 4.16 billion US dollars, an increase of 4.1% year-on-year. Among them, imports from China increased by 2.8%, accounting for 41.1%, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points. Imports from India increased by 12.5%, and imports from Pakistan increased by 0.7%.
In the first quarter, the European Union imported home textiles worth 2.74 billion US dollars, an increase of 22.6% year-on-year. Among them, imports from China increased by 30.8%, accounting for 37.3%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points. Imports from Pakistan increased significantly by 33.3%, and imports from India soared by 40.7%.
In the first four months, Japan imported 950 million US dollars worth of home textiles, an increase of 2.8% year-on-year. Among them, imports from China increased by 2.5%, accounting for 72.6%, dropping by 0.2 percentage points. Imports from Vietnam increased by 1.1%, and imports from India rose by 13.2%.
Trend Outlook
The United States is the largest single market for China's home textile exports, accounting for more than 30% of China's home textile exports. Since the beginning of this year, the US government has frequently imposed unilateral tariff measures on China indiscriminately, which has had a certain impact on China's home textile exports. After the Sino-US economic and trade talks in Geneva, the industry has witnessed a new round of "rush shipping". Suppliers are rushing to ship the goods that were previously piled up due to tariff issues in a concentrated manner before the traditional peak shipping season. It is expected that exports to the US will show a significant recovery trend in the short term.
However, the tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese home textile products remain at a high level. First of all, the basic effective weighted average tariff (most-favored-nation tariff) imposed by the US on Chinese home textile products reached 7.5%, and the top tariff rate reached 20.9%. Secondly, the US imposed a 15% 301 tariff on Chinese clothing and home textile products in September 2019 (which was reduced to 7.5% in February 2020). Thirdly, since the beginning of this year, the US has imposed additional fentanyl tariffs and equivalent tariffs on China totaling 30% (90 days starting from May 14). Fourth, it is still difficult to predict the trend of tariffs after August 11th.
The Trump administration's decision-making is highly variable. The current three-month easing period can only be regarded as a breathing space. In the future, export enterprises are bound to face a long-term unstable situation. Facing challenges, Chinese home textile export enterprises urgently need to implement industrial optimization and market diversification strategies, drive product value leaps with technological empowerment, deepen partnerships in potential markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, consolidate the integrated operation capabilities of upstream and downstream, and use digital means to optimize supply chain resilience and reduce reliance on a single market. Only in this way can Only in this way can one remain invincible in the long-term competition.
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