US imports from China continued generally rising in the seventh month of the post-quota period, but they grew at a lower pace while even losing market shares at the same time.
In cotton categories, shipments from the PRC were even down for a small number of products. In category 342 (cotton dresses) that is not yet threatened by a US embargo, imports were down from 735,000 dozen in June to 366,000 dozen in July.
This is only 96% of the average level of imports from China in the first seven months of the year, against 136% in June.
In categories that were placed under embargo, shipments not surprisingly declined to very low levels.
Imports were stopped by July 7 in category 338 (cotton knit shirts) with entries falling from 2.63 million dozen in June down to 480,503 in July.
In category 347 (M/B cotton trousers) that was subject to an embargo on July 8, imports plunged from 1.88 million dozen in June down to 178,059 dozen in July.
Shipments continued being strong in man-made fiber categories where embargoes were not yet placed, by contrast.
In 640 and 641 (MMF woven shirts), imports from China were far from falling in July.
A new jump was even observed in 644 (W/G MMF suits) and 648 (W/G MMF sweaters).
As US total imports continued surging in a large number of categories, China's shares of US import market generally fell.
In addition to categories subject to embargoes, shares also decreased in several categories that are not threatened by US safeguards.
China's apparel exports are clearly destabilized by Washington's answer to post-quota surge in Chinese shipments.
