Industry Imports Rise in December

WASHINGTON — Apparel and textile imports to the U.S. rose 6.7 percent in December on a year-over-year basis, a report on Friday from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles and Apparel showed.

Combined apparel and textile shipments to the U.S. increased to 4 billion square-meter equivalents in the month compared with December 2011, with apparel imports rising 13.2 percent to 1.8 billion SME and textile shipments increasing 2 percent to 2.2 billion SME.