Customs News: China'S Clothing Export To EU May Face Greater Pressure

According to customs statistics, from January to August 2022, China's clothing exports to the main markets of the United States, the European Union, ASEAN and Japan were 27.9 billion US dollars, 24.35 billion US dollars, 9.98 billion US dollars and 9.39 billion US dollars respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 11.3%, 19.1%, 31.4% and 1.2% respectively. The European Union still firmly occupies the second place in China's clothing export, and the year-on-year growth rate is significantly higher than the global average.

It is worth noting that China's clothing exports to the United States decreased by 11.1% in August, while exports to the European Union increased by 5.4%, significantly slowing down compared with the 30.4% growth rate in July; According to the feedback from some textile and clothing enterprises in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places, the growth rate of China's textile and garment exports to the EU in September may turn from increase to decrease, and the situation will further deteriorate.

Industry analysis shows that, in addition to the EU's deep energy crisis and repeated pressure from high inflation, and the continuous cold of economic activities has led to the fatigue of textile and clothing consumption demand, it is also related to the EU's "following" US import ban on cotton products in Xinjiang and the significant depreciation of the euro against the US dollar.

Another factor that needs to be paid close attention to is that the European Union plans to tighten the import tax policy of textiles and clothing, and strengthen the control of overseas packages, and the tariff will soar by 20% to 30%. From March 1, 2023, the new value-added tax policy of EU will be applicable to all air cargo; From March 1, 2024, all low value goods imported from countries outside the EU, whether delivered by sea or by road or rail, will be subject to VAT, and the tariff on imported textiles will be increased from 17% to 30%.