The U.S. cotton industry promotes the crop as “the fabric of our lives,” yet synthetics account for a growing share of imported textiles and apparel. Some 18.2 billion pounds of fiber products were imported during 2014, the largest total since 2010, says the USDA in its Cotton and Wool Outlook report. By comparison, exports of fiber products were 3.7 billion pounds, the highest amount since 2008.
Cotton’s share of textile and apparel imports “has declined in recent years as manmade fiber use has grown steadily,” said the USDA. In 2014, cotton accounted for 46 percent of textile and apparel imports, down from 56 percent five years ago. Some 47 percent of imports were synthetic fibers and the rest were linen, silk and wool.