Trump Vows to At Least Quadruple US-Pakistan Trade

Talking with the media during Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to the White House on July 22, 2019, US President Donald Trump said the United States “have a fantastic trade relationship (with Pakistan). I don’t mean we’ll increase it by 20 per cent. I mean, I think we can quadruple it. I think it could go — I mean, literally, it sounds crazy — you could go 10 times more. You could go 20 times more.” This is good news for Pakistan which has seen its exports stalled over the last 5 years. This has created a serious balance of payments crisis forcing the country to seek yet another IMF bailout.

US-Pakistan Trade Volume:

So what is the current volume of bilateral US-Pakistan trade?  The United States is currently Pakistan's largest export market accounting for 16% of the country's exports. The United States Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) website says that "Pakistan is currently our 56th largest goods trading partner with $6.6 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2018. Goods exports totaled $2.9 billion; goods imports totaled $3.7 billion. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Pakistan was $783 million in 2018."

Pakistan's Exports to US: 

Pakistan's major exports to the United States are made up of garments and other textiles. In aggregate the apparel and textile industries accounted for 37.8% and 35.1% respectively of all U.S. imports from Pakistan in the 12 months to May 31, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Given Pakistan accounted for just 1.7% of U.S. apparel imports and 8.4% of textiles there may well be room for increased market share, particularly in light of US-China trade tensions.

Pakistan's Exports to the United States. Source: Standard and Poor ...

Pakistan's garments exports to the United States have jumped 12% in first quarter of 2019 from the same period a year ago, according to USITC Dataweb.  This double digit exports growth is being partly attributed to US President Donald's Trump ongoing trade war with China with the US government imposing 10% to 25% tariffs on certain Chinese goods. Pakistani rupee devaluation has also contributed to the nation's overall competitiveness.

Textile Exports to United States. Source: Bloomberg

American buyers are diversifying their supplier base away from China, the No. 1 exporter of these goods to the U.S. Already, Bangladesh is close to snatching the trousers-to-towel crown, according to Bloomberg News. Pakistan, at No. 6 last year, has grown its own shipments to the U.S. by almost 12% this year. It may overtake India, which has seen virtually no improvement.

Major US Importers of Pakistani Apparel: 

Who are the largest American importers of apparel and textile products from Pakistan? The largest importer of apparel and textiles from Pakistan in the past 12 months, aside from trade finance houses, has been Levi Strauss with 1,682 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit Containers) shipped. That followed a 101.5% year over year surge in shipments in 2Q. Other importers have also already been expanding their shipments. That was followed by JC Penney with 991 TEUs shipped after a 13.3% rise in 2Q while Adidas shipped 641 TEUs and grew by 9.9%, according to Standard and Poor Global Market Intelligence.

Biggest Importers of Apparel From Pakistan. Source: Standard and Po...

Pakistani Apparel Exporters: 

Pakistan's Interloop Limited based in Faisalabad is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of apparel and textiles. The company recently raised nearly Rs. 5 billion on Karachi Stock Exchange to expand production of stitched denim designs for its clients including Levi’s and H&M. Interloop's major clients also include Nike, Reebok, Adidas, and Puma, as well as other major clothing retailers like Uniqlo and Target.

Pakistani Export Competitiveness: 

Pakistani apparel exports are becoming more competitive in international markets because Pakistani rupee has declined by almost 25% recently. This has wiped out the currency’s overvaluation adjusted for inflation differences with trading partners, as estimated by the IMF.

Average Annual Cost of Manufacturing Worker in US$ in Asia. Source:...

Textiles industry is just one the export industries seeing exodus of manufactures and buyers from China.  Electronics industry is seeing similar moves. Engadget is reporting that Google is moving production of its US-bound Nest thermostats and motherboards to Taiwan. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Nintendo is shifting at least some production of its Switch console to Southeast Asia.

Last November, Nomura Securities strategists had said they expected Malaysia, Japan and Pakistan  to be the top 3 beneficiaries of import substitution triggered by US-China trade war escalation. Nomura's analysis is based on detailed study of 7,705 items which will be subject to tariffs and counter tariffs by US and China if the stand-off continues. Nomura developed two indices as part of its research on the subject: NISI (Nomura Import Substitution Index) and NPRI (Nomura Production Relocation Index). This is good news for Pakistan which has seen its exports stalled over the last 5 years. This has created a serious balance of payments crisis forcing the country to seek yet another IMF bailout.

Pakistan's Stalled Exports. Source: Standard and Poor Global

Summary: 

President Donald Trump at his July 22, 2019 White House meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to at least quadruple trade with Pakistan.  It means the bilateral trade between the two countries could grow from the current $6.6 billion to at least $26.4 billion.  Pakistan's garments exports to the United States have jumped 12% in first quarter of 2019 from the same period a year ago, according to USITC Dataweb.  This double digit exports growth is being partly attributed to US President Donald's Trump ongoing trade war with China with the US government imposing 10% to 25% tariffs on certain Chinese goods. Pakistani rupee devaluation has also contributed to the nation's overall competitiveness. This is good news for Pakistan which has seen its exports stalled over the last 5 years. It has created a serious balance of payments crisis forcing the country to seek yet another IMF bailout.  Pakistan's Interloop Limited based in Faisalabad is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of apparel and textiles. The company recently raised nearly Rs. 5 billion on Karachi Stock Exchange to expand production of stitched denim designs for its clients including Levi’s and H&M. Interloop's major clients also include Nike, Reebok, Adidas, and Puma, as well as other major clothing retailers like Uniqlo and Target.

Here's a discussion recorded prior to the Trump-Imran Summit in Washington:

https://youtu.be/Y6fFRSpuNh0

Related Links:

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Pakistan Economy Hobbled By Underinvestment

Pakistan's IT Exports Surging

Can Indian Economy Survive Without Western Capital Inflows?

Pakistan-China-Russia Vs India-Japan-US

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Comment by Riaz Haq on August 1, 2019 at 7:14am

#China’s #Denim #Exports to US Slide, as Other Major Suppliers Gain Ground. Among the top 5 is #Pakistan, with its denim exports to US up 10.58% to $95.37 million. Pakistan’s market share is up 11.87% in the 12 months to 6.48%. https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-business/china-denim-import... via @SourcingJournal

It’s likely that no matter what happens with the Trump administration’s threat to impose stiff punitive tariffs on Chinese apparel imports, damage has already been done.

Many importers have clearly taken the risk of 25 percent duties on Chinese goods and decided to sew them into their sourcing strategies, limiting their exposure to the once-dominant Chinese market, even with the imposition of those tariffs now on hold. Supply chain diversification is in full effect and the latest data from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA) reflects it.

“People are diversifying their denim sourcing locations. Some people are getting out of China and some people are staying in China,” Robert Antoshak, managing director at Olah Inc., said. “There is definitely confusion in the marketplace.”

The swing in production is most evident among the top suppliers of blue denim apparel, 97 percent of which are jeans. Denim apparel imports from China dropped 5.16 percent in value to $287.49 million in the year through May, compared to the same period in 2018. This brought China’s market share for jeans imports down 1.77 percent to 23.35 percent for the year.

The next four top suppliers all gained ground on China in the 12-month period, according to OTEXA.

In the second place spot, Mexico, which has had its own round of tariff threats from the White House, though they seem to have subsided for now, saw its jeans imports increase 17.61 percent in the first five months of the year to reach $332.43 million in value. Mexico’s market share rose 11.55 percent to 21.98 percent for the year.

Denim apparel imports from third-place supplier, Bangladesh, were up 6.26 percent year to date to $183.42 million, as the country’s market share advanced 7.61 percent to 14.62 percent. Vietnam’s jeans shipments to the U.S. jumped 35 percent to $105.07 million in the first five months of the year, compared to the year-ago period. This lifted Vietnam’s market share 40.49 percent to 8.2 percent.

Rounding out the top five was Pakistan, with its shipments to the U.S. increasing 10.58 percent to $95.37 million. Pakistan’s market share was up 11.87 percent in the 12 months to 6.48 percent.

“There’s no doubt that the trade war between the U.S. and China has resulted in production being spread out across Asia and being a Pakistan manufacturer, we have benefited,” Ebru Ozaydin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Artistic Milliners, said at last month’s Kingpins New York show.

The Western Hemisphere, led by Mexico, Nicaragua and Guatemala, continued to increase its denim production, too.

Imports from the region rose 14.83 percent year to date through May to $414.07 million. This gave the Western Hemisphere a 27.64 percent market share, with a 10.4 percent gain for the year.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 1, 2019 at 9:35am

#India registers strong protest over #US military sale worth $125 million for #Pakistan’s F-16s via @htTweets https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-registers-strong-pr...

India has registered a strong protest over the US approving a proposed military sale worth $125 million for Pakistan’s F-16 combat jet fleet, calling in the American envoy in New Delhi to convey its “grave concern”.

Days after the meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump, the Pentagon announced on July 26 that the state department had approved the proposed deal for “24/7 end-use monitoring” of the F-16s.

“We have taken up the matter with the US ambassador in Delhi, as well as with the US government in Washington through our ambassador. We have expressed grave concern over US military assistance to Pakistan,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a regular news briefing on Thursday.

People familiar with developments said the US envoy was called in to the external affairs ministry for lodging a strong protest.

In response, Kumar said, the US side had informed India the “proposed sale does not indicate any change in the US policy of maintaining a freeze in military assistance to Pakistan”.

“The US has publicly stated the proposed sale is intended to enable the US to continue technical and logistics support services to assist in the oversight of the operations of F-16 aircraft in Pakistan’s inventory,” he said.

Trump snapped military and security aid for Pakistan in January last year after accusing Islamabad of resorting to “lies and deceit” in return for billions of dollars of assistance over the past two decades.

However, the warmth displayed by Trump during his first meeting with Khan last month and the US reliance on Pakistan’s support for pushing forward talks with the Afghan Taliban had led observers to conclude that Washington might resume military aid for Islamabad.

The Pentagon statement announcing the proposed sale had said it was cleared after Pakistan requested a “continuation of technical support services; US Government and contractor technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support to assist in the oversight” of the F-16s. It had added that the proposed sale “will not alter the basic military balance in the region”

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 4, 2019 at 9:29am

8 #Chinese firms keen to invest in #Pakistan #textile sector. A delegation from these firms led by Huang Weiguo, chairman of Shanghai Yuanyi Industry called on #ImranKhanPrimeMinister in #Islamabad recently. #China #Investment https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/8-prc-firms-keen-to...

Eight Chinese textile companies evinced keen interest in investing in Pakistan's textile sector when a delegation from those firms led by Huang Weiguo, chairman of Shanghai Yuanyi Industry, called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad recently. Khan highlighted Pakistan’ strategic location, a large market and cost-effective and skilled labour. 

The delegation also met minister for industry, trade, information and culture of Punjab province Mian Aslam Iqbal, who said China can help raise Pakistan’s exports by relocating export-oriented industries and initiating joint ventures in various fields, according to Pakistani media reports. 

A garment city spread over 400 acres is being established at Kasur Road and China Railway will invest $500 million there to generate 3000 employment opportunities, Iqbal added. (DS)

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 4, 2019 at 10:29am

#Tech #Investments Put #Pakistan’s #Karachi based Denim Manufacturer Siddiqsons Back on Track to Regain Global Marketshare in Jeans. #garments – Sourcing Journal

https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-mills/investments-siddiqson...

It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks—including legacy denim manufacturers.

Siddiqsons Group is rebooting its denim business with major investments in sustainable innovation, including adopting Archroma’s aniline-free indigo across its entire production, and becoming the first fully-operational Jeanologia 5.0 laundry in Pakistan.

The vertical company helped lay the framework for denim manufacturing in the country, setting up a spinning unit in 1982 and its first denim fabric unit in 1989. Knit and garment units followed with success, leading the company to diversify into other industries including real estate, construction and energy. However, with large investments and success in other sectors, Siddiqsons’ footprint in denim manufacturing started to diminish—and it’s rebuilding that business today through strategic investments and supply chain commitments.

"They made a decision that they wanted to regain market share and to become relevant in the world today,” said Matthew Fuhr, a consultant brought on by the firm to help kickstart its denim business for the next generation of brands and consumers. Siddiqsons, he said, is making investments in areas that will put the business “ahead of the curve of what’s happening in the marketplace.” The company plans to use those investments to rebuild the relationships they previously enjoyed in the U.S. market.

Each investment, Fuhr said, be it in spinning, finishing or garment processing, is a step closer to transparency and sustainability.

“They have to go hand in hand because people talk about being sustainable, but they’re not willing to share what they’re doing or how they can validate it,” he said.


The roll-out of Archroma’s aniline-free denim indigo dye timed well with Siddiqsons’s renewed focus on denim and its expiring contract with Dystar. The mill, Fuhr said, contemplated shifting a portion of its production to Archroma, but after a series of wash down tests with the aniline-free dye, they were satisfied with the results.

“We looked at all of our shades that we were running and how we were doing our product development and we figured out that we could make more of a commitment to the transition of a new dyestuff,” Fuhr said.

The decision to be sustainable across the entire supply chain led the vertical operation to adopt Jeanologia 5.0 for laundry, and the laundry will be operational in Q3 2019.

“Our intent is to produce a large percentage of our internal fabric capacity into garments,” Fuhr said.

To reduce the time and cost of sampling, Fuhr said Siddiqsons is developing fabrics that are conducive to the technology of 5.0, including no stones, ozone, laser and limited chemicals.

“You can develop the fabric so that is reacts in an appropriate manner,” he said. “We can manage the expectation of what design wants and what the production team

Up next, the company is planning to set up a lab in the United States in 2020 to give its brand partners a place where their design and merchandising teams can gather and innovate with the Siddiqsons team.

“The way our technology is set up, you can develop something in the U.S. and it can be transferred to a production unit anywhere in the world,” Fuhr said. The lab, he added, will help the company have an “upper end” research development environment, which could bring better business to Pakistan for production purposes.

These investments, Fuhr added, have been made knowing Pakistan is viewed as a lower cost producer.

“We have to engineer the plant and make our investments knowing that it’s always going to be a place where people are looking for an inexpensive product,” he said. “With that being said, based on the technology and the investments, we are able to offer a more premium product at a more affordable price.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 4, 2019 at 10:38am

A Denim Factory Could Hold the Key to Reviving Pakistan’s Exportshttps://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/a-denim-fa...

With foreign reserves declining ahead of elections in July, Pakistan’s government is under pressure to revive its exports. Could Artistic Denim provide a solution?

KARACHI, Pakistan — A denim factory in Karachi could hold the key to reviving Pakistan’s ailing exports.

With many retailers shifting textile orders to cheaper and more timely suppliers in rival Bangladesh and Vietnam, Pakistan’s manufacturers have long-suffered from power cuts, an expensive exchange rate and what they claim is government indifference. Yet while hundreds of factories have shut down in recent years, shedding more than half a million jobs, Artistic Denim Mills Ltd., which operates as a one-stop shop turning cotton into jeans, is doubling production and has built a new factory in Pakistan’s financial hub.

Chief Executive Officer Faisal Ahmed is bullish and supplies retailers such as Zaraand Next Plc. He points to one key decision — unlike most industrialists, Artistic Denim started by making garments about 25 years ago instead of just shipping spun yarn or fabric. Now “we have been able to get many orders that used to go to Turkey earlier,” he said at his office in an industrial area.

The move shows a rare sign of promise in a stagnant industry that has been part of Pakistan’s economic backbone for decades. Pakistan is among the top five growers globally and cultivated has been cultivated on these lands for at least 5,000 years. Typically Pakistan has been mostly converting cotton into thread and fabric that is shipped East to other Asian countries, which then manufacture the final garment.

Homegrown Cotton

With foreign reserves declining ahead of elections in July, Pakistan’s government is under pressure to revive its exports and avoid going to the International Monetary Fund for what would be its 13th bailout since 1988. The textile industry is key as it accounts for more than half of all overseas shipments.

Pakistan has lost market share with exports growing 27 percent during 2005 to 2016, falling behind Bangladesh’s 276 percent increase and 445 percent in Vietnam, according to World Bank data. India is the second-largest apparel exporter in South Asia after Bangladesh. Nonetheless, Pakistan still has the advantage of homegrown cotton that it can capitalize on, unlike Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Pakistan's textile industry is key as it accounts for more than half of all overseas shipments.

Pakistan is targeting its first export jump this financial year after giving tax breaks to exporters, in a bid to reverse a three year slump with value added products like denim getting the biggest incentives, Mohammad Younus Dagha, secretary at the Commerce Ministry, said in an November interview.

Textile industrialists have continually lobbied the government for subsidies and incentives. Yet despite last year’s measures, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in an interview this month that no further giveaways to the industry were likely before the elections.

“Bangladesh and Vietnam governments are giving huge support to industries, unlike ours,” said Ahmed Lakhani, analyst at Karachi-based JS Global Capital Ltd. “The tax breaks are a good step, but we need to decrease electricity tariffs and keep a check on wages. I don’t think we will give all those incentives and compete globally.”

 

Some textile executives say that they have been lazy and have fallen behind market trends, opting instead to pester the government for subsidies.

“About 95 percent of Pakistani exporters mentality is waiting for a customer rather than going out and finding them,” said Majyd Aziz, president of MHG Group of Companies in Karachi. “In the global world, you need integration and economies of scale, if you do that, you make money.”

Artistic Denim is one of them. It has chased premium brands in Los Angeles that pay more for smaller deliveries to keep changing designs rather than bulk orders. The company said this will help revenues reach as much as eight billion rupees ($72 million) in year ending June with new garment production capacity increasing sales.

“Pakistan’s denim is on an upward trend, despite the larger textile industry being in trouble,” said Ahmed. “Pakistan has a tremendous opportunity.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 5, 2019 at 9:54am

#India's #textile industry alarmed over consistent fall in cotton yarn exports in last 3 months due to sharp decline in demand in importing countries such as #China, #Bangladesh and #SouthKorea, and duty-free access given by China to #Pakistan. #trade https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/falling-...

Our Bureau

The textile industry has voiced alarm over the consistent fall in cotton yarn exports in the last three months due to sharp decline in demand in importing countries such as China, Bangladesh and South Korea, besides duty-free access given by China to competing Pakistan.

Steep fall in exports
Cotton yarn export in June has more than halved to 59 million kg (mkg) in June from 120 mkg in the same period last year. In fact, the level of 59 mkg of exports logged in June was the lowest monthly export in the last five years.

In May, yarn export was down 30 per cent to 77 mkg (111 mkg) while in April it dipped 16 per cent to 90 mkg.

Overall, export of cotton yarn from India in the first quarter of the financial year ended June was down 33 per cent to 226 mkg (338 mkg).

Considering the large-scale investment in the spinning sector and sluggish demand in the domestic markets, exports are the only avenue to ensure uninterrupted production and capacity utilisation, it said.

The cotton yarn sector has been one of the pillars of the Indian textile industry and is also highly modernised. Driven by technology, it provides sustainable income to farmers.

KV Srinivasan, Chairman, Texprocil, said even though cotton yarn is a value-added product, it has been excluded from the export benefits such as interest subvention, MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme) and the ROSCTL (Rebate of State and central taxes and levies) schemes.

If the current trends of declining exports continue into the next quarter, it will lead to closure of several spinning units in the near future, resulting in layoffs, he said.

Appeal to govt
Texprocil has appealed to the government to include cotton yarn in the interest subvention scheme and also rebate the embedded taxes such as agricultural cess, mandi tax, power and fuel surcharge which incurred in the production process.

The ROSCTL scheme which rebates these levies should be extended to cotton yarn sector at the earliest, it said. This move will ensure that the industry exports only products and not the taxes, it added.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 5, 2019 at 10:05am

#India's #exports fall for first time in nine months amid trade tensions. Exports fell 9.71% in June, while imports declined 9.06% as #US-#China #TradeWars hurt India’s #trade prospects https://www.livemint.com/news/india/amid-trade-tensions-india-s-jun...

  • Exports fell 9.71% in June, while imports declined 9.06% as US-China trade row hurt India’s trade prospects
  • DURING June, petroleum exports fell 33% as Jamnagar, Mangalore refineries shut temporarily

India’s merchandise exports contracted for the first time in nine months in June while imports shrank first time in four months, signalling that rising protectionism and trade tensions between the US and China are impacting India’s trade prospects as well.

Data released by the commerce ministry showed exports in June fell 9.71% to $25.01 billion while imports dipped 9.06% to $40.29 billion, leaving behind a trade deficit of $15.28 billion during the month.

Comparatively, China’s exports in June fell 1.3%, while imports shrank 7.3%, leading to a trade surplus of $50.98 billion, significantly higher than what analysts projected.

Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said the temporary shutdown of ONGC Mangalore Petrochemical Ltd and Jamnagar refinery for maintenance in June adversely impacted exports of petroleum products.

“The shutdown of Jamnagar refinery is likely to abate by mid-July. The fall in the global Brent price by 15.6% in June is also a factor in the declining value of petroleum product exports," he added.

During June, petroleum exports declined 33% while non-oil, non-gems and jewellery exports contracted by 4.86%.

Among other major items, exports of gems and jewellery (10.7%), readymade garments (-9.18%), chemicals (-8.17%) and engineering goods (-2.65%) also contracted.

“The negative growth in June is also consistent with certain global trends, which have impacted India’s exports in recent months. We expect exports growth to revive to the trend growth rate of 2-3% in coming months," Wadhawan said.

The World Bank in its Global Economic Prospects released in June has projected weakening of global trade in 2019.

Global trade is projected to grow at 2.6% this year—a full percentage point below its own previous forecast.

Aditi Nayar, principal economist at Icra Ltd, said lower crude oil prices explain a portion of the contraction in the absolute level of exports and imports.

“Nevertheless, the contraction in imports of items such as transport equipment, machinery and fertilisers should be viewed with caution, as they suggest that the underlying demand dynamics are weak.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 7, 2019 at 9:13pm

#India’s rich party under a growing cloud of gloom. India’s #gdp growth has slowed for 4 quarters in a row and shows little sign of picking. “I’ve been working for 35 years. I’ve never seen so much gloom and despair,” #Modi #economy up.https://www.ft.com/content/d6aeb708-b51f-11e9-bec9-fdcab53d6959 via @financialtimes


The recent suicide of India’s “coffee king”, VG Siddhartha, was seen by many in the business world as symptomatic of a wider malaise. “If you look at India Inc, they are not in an ebullient mood. They are concerned. Alarm bells are ringing. We need to hear them,” Mrs Shaw says. 

After Mr Modi’s landslide re-election victory in May, some Indian industrialists were cautiously optimistic that the prime minister would turn his attention to reviving an economy showing signs of trouble. 

That hope was not realised. Instead of new stimulus measures or a fresh wave of bold structural reforms, the new government’s first budget in July set an aggressive target of increasing tax collections by 20 per cent. Businesses fear the ambitious goal will exacerbate what some call “tax terrorism” by officials under pressure to meet unrealistic targets.

The budget also levied a steep new tax surcharge on the super-rich, raising the effective tax rate for those earning more than $285,000 to 39 per cent, and nearly 43 per cent for those earning around $700,000. Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, said no more than 5,000 individuals would be affected and that they should be willing to contribute to the nation.

“The signal she sends is that rich Indians deserve to be penalised,” wrote the columnist Tavleen Singh. Ms Singh believes the latest tax rise will encourage more rich Indians to follow in the footsteps of the more than 23,000 dollar-millionaires that Morgan Stanley estimates have left India since 2014. The new taxes have had other unforeseen consequences, hitting foreign portfolio investors, who pulled an estimated $5.5bn from the stock markets in July. 

As the mood sours, the luxury industry is feeling the pinch. Footfalls in Delhi’s most upmarket shopping mall are said to have fallen 11 per cent last year, as the rich feared they would be under surveillance there. Once blistering sales for designer wear have tapered off. “The feelgood factor is extremely low — the lowest I’ve seen in decades,” Mr Tahiliani told me after his show. “There is such unease. Nobody is investing. People are just nervous about spending.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 8, 2019 at 10:09am

#Pakistan’s ‘Exports surge 14.2pc, imports drop 18.3pc in July' 2019 . #exports #imports #trade - Profit by Pakistan Today

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/08/07/exports-surge-14-2pc...


Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s exports had increased by 14.23pc in July this year, as compared to the same month of last year.

In term of dollars, the country’s exports increased from $1.63 billion in July 2018 to $1.87 billion in July 2019, the adviser informed while addressing a press conference at the commerce ministry.

He continued that Pakistan’s imports from other countries also reduced by 18.39pc during the month.

The adviser said during the period under review, an increase in exports was witnessed in various sectors, including rice (71pc), readymade garments (17pc), home textiles (14pc), plastic goods (34pc), chemicals (26pc), mangoes (33pc) and footwear (24pc).

Replying to a question, he said that China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA), a comprehensive tariff policy, reforms in National Tariff Commission (NTC) and an increase in local exports were among the major hallmarks of his ministry during the first year of this government.

He informed media that Afghanistan had offered a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to Pakistan in order to enhance trade between the two countries.

During the visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, both sides had discussed issues pertaining to bilateral transit trade, he said, adding that both countries were willing to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

He said Afghan Ambassador Shukrullah Atif Mashal had invited him to visit Afghanistan on August 20th.

“I will visit Afghanistan to share the agenda of bilateral trade and to chalk out ways to increase the volume of transit trade.”

On a query, the adviser said that Pakistan had successfully gotten market access to the China, European Union (EU), Indonesia, Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“We are committed to getting trade access to the potential markets of the United States (US), Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia so as to increase the volume of our exports,” he maintained.

Regarding his recent visit to South Korea, Dawood informed that during his visit, he held meetings with various Korean companies who were willing to bring their investment to Pakistan, particularly in the textile and agriculture sectors.

He noted that Pakistan has been facing a trade deficit with South Korea, as the former’s exports to latter were $300 million as compared to the imports of $600 million.

“We have arranged the business-to-business meetings with Korean investors in order to negotiate on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), similar to those it signed with India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Chile,” he stated. “Both sides decided to hold a working group meeting in October to discuss ways to increase the volume of bilateral trade.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 8, 2019 at 4:27pm

Jeans Sourcing Landscape Sees Major Changes as China Fade Continues
By Arthur Friedman

https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-retail/jeans-sourcing-china...

Reflecting the volatile sourcing environment created in great part by the U.S.-China trade war, the first half of 2019 saw significant swings in denim apparel sourcing.

Imports of the category from China dropped 10.44 percent in the six months through June to a value of $369.97 million. This brought China’s market share of the category–97 percent of which are denim jeans–down to 22.82 percent, a 5.11 percent decline for the year ended June 30.

Levi Strauss & Co. said it has drawn down its reliance on China as a source for its jeans. Imports from China now represent less than 8 percent of overall production for Levi’s and the company said it is in the process of bringing that number down to “very low-single-digits” by 2020. Many brands have followed suit in denim and overall apparel to limit risks from tariff threats by President Trump and increased costs in China.

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All of the other Top 5 suppliers posted gains in the amount of denim they shipped to the U.S., with each growing their market share. Mexico, the No. 2 denim supplier to the U.S., inched up on China to hold a 22.16 percent market share. Jeans imports from Mexico rose 14.44 percent to $410.07 million, leading a Western Hemisphere increase of 12.03 percent to $509.74 million, which also included a 28.02 percent gain by Nicaragua to $55.19 million, and a 12.06 percent advance by Guatemala to $16.22 million.

Among the major Asian apparel suppliers, Vietnam and Pakistan are the big winners so far this year, while Cambodia and Indonesia lost ground, and Bangladesh maintained the status quo.

Jeans imports from Vietnam jumped 29.36 percent to a value of $142.36 million. The country’s market share rose 36.39 percent to 8.38 percent for the 12 months, as makers look to capitalize on its apparel manufacturing expertise.

Pakistan, which benefits from also being a major supplier of denim fabric, saw its first-half imports to the U.S. rise 15.49 percent to $119.72 million. The country’s market share increased 16.27 percent to 6.69 percent.

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