Data from the past decade shows that China's textile and garment exports have bid farewell to the period of rapid growth and entered a stage of interval adjustment. Especially since 2020, the growth rate of exports has repeatedly fallen into negative growth. Although the decline in exports from January to October 2025 has narrowed significantly compared with -9.48% in 2020, according to the latest statistics from the General Administration of Customs, the total export value of textiles and garments in China in the first ten months was 243.94 billion US dollars, still a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%. There is still a gap compared with the positive growth of 5.20% in 2021.
Against this backdrop, the substantive consensus reached through the China-Us economic and trade consultations has brought a crucial opportunity for the recovery of industry exports in the fourth quarter and a stable conclusion to the year.
The crux of the slowdown in export growth lies in the dual constraints of tariffs and the industrial chain
Tracing back to the core crux of the slowdown in export growth, it mainly stems from two major constraints.
The long-term impact of the tariff game between China and the United States has led to high export costs. Previously, the United States imposed a comprehensive tariff rate of 37.5% to 55% on Chinese textile and garment products, significantly higher than that of Southeast Asian countries. As a result, some orders flowed to regions with lower tariff costs. The data shows that from January to October 2025, the export of clothing in US dollars decreased by 3.8%, and the decline in October alone expanded to 15.9%, becoming the main force dragging down the industry's exports.
The uncertainty brought about by the global industrial chain reconstruction has intensified the operational pressure. The textile industry's characteristics of "short order cycles and strong delivery timeliness" place extremely high demands on the stability of the supply chain. However, factors such as export control and logistics barriers make enterprises cautious about taking orders, making it difficult to implement production plans. Meanwhile, the price fluctuations and supply uncertainties of core raw materials such as cotton have further restricted the release of the industry's export momentum.
Declaration: The content and template of this article are compiled from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author. If there is any infringement, please inform us in time and contact us for deletion.
