Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) exports to the United States surged by 26.66 per cent in value and 25.24 per cent in volume year-on-year during the first quarter of 2025.

According to data released on Tuesday by OTEXA, an affiliate of the US Department of Commerce, Bangladesh earned $2.22 billion from January to March, up from $1.75 billion in the same period last year, while export volumes reached 733.98 million square metres.

Industry experts credited the surge to a stronger US market and efforts by importers to bring in goods ahead of anticipated higher tariffs under the Trump administration.

Notably, Bangladesh’s export growth outpaced that of all other major suppliers, including India (24.04 per cent), Indonesia (20 per cent), Pakistan (17.51 per cent), Vietnam (13.98 per cent), and China (4.11 per cent).

Despite China’s slowdown, Vietnam surpassed it as the top US apparel supplier, earning $3.87 billion compared to China’s US$3.59 billion in the same period.

Despite the global economic challenges, Bangladeshi products’ competitive pricing, enhanced production capabilities and commitment to sustainable and ethical manufacturing practices contributed to the robust performance, exporters said.

Exporters believe that Bangladesh has the potential to emerge as a key beneficiary of the ongoing trade and tariff tensions between the US and China, provided it tackles domestic challenges and receives the necessary strategic policy backing.

However, opinions are split regarding the potential loss of competitiveness in the coming months due to the US tariff increase.

Some argued that Bangladesh could lose ground to rivals like India and Pakistan, which faced lower tariff rates of 26 per cent and 29 per cent respectively, compared to Bangladesh’s 37 per cent, while others were confident that the impact on Bangladesh will be limited.

According to OTEXA data, Bangladesh’s RMG export earnings from the US market were $7.34 billion in 2024 and $7.28 billion in 2023. In 2022, clothing exports to the US hit an all-time high of $9.73 billion.

Amid slow growth last year, Bangladesh’s apparel export share in the US market fell to 9.26 per cent in 2024, down from 9.7 per cent in 2022.

Data showed that India earned $1.50 billion by shipping 417.88 million square metres of apparel to the US in the first three months of 2025 — a 27.17 per cent increase in volume compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, US apparel imports grew by 10.96 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, reaching $20.04 billion.