OTEXA Imports Headnotes

Headnotes to Textiles and Apparel Import Data

SUMMARY:

This report provides General Import statistics by date of import from the Census Bureau for a variety of recent time periods by country. The statistics are also aggregated into notional categories and country groupings for your convenience.

DEFINITIONS:

General Import Statistics:
All imports received in a given period of time, regardless of date of export, which have been

• Entered directly for consumption in the United States, or
• Entered into warehouse for temporary storage. These shipments may either be subsequently re- exported or ultimately entered for consumption.

General Import statistics are not comparable to import for consumption statistics, which not only are defined by date of export, but also differ in that they report withdrawals from warehouse for consumption instead of entries into warehouse.

Additional definitions and useful information regarding U.S. trade statistics can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Guide to Foreign Trade Statistics.

Category 0 = Total Textiles and Apparel:
Total imports of textile and apparel in products that were subject to possible quota restraint by the United States, but not necessarily restrained, under the MFA (Multi-Fiber Arrangement). The WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing succeeded the MFA on January 1, 1995, and expired on January 1, 2005. Import quotas under the MFA were based on the Textile Import Category System. See the Textile Correlation for a correlation between the Textile Import Category System and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). Import data are collected and compiled based on their HTS classification and Textile Import Category.

Note: While data for the silk apparel categories  733-759 and 71 are shown, they are not included in any of the aggregate categories.

SME: (Square Meter Equivalent, also referred to as “M2”):
A notional, common unit of quantity, constant across categories and time. Conversion Factors are used to convert units of quantity into SME. See the Textile Correlation for a listing of the conversion factors.