It may be a statistical blip, an early irrelevance or the start of something big, but January’s data (the latest available) on the United States’ imports of non-apparel textiles show a slight decline in the rate of both dollars and units, compared with the same month a year ago. A similar situation holds for apparel.
The reason January’s figures compel more than a passing glance is that they appear to confirm a trend that began in 2005.

By David Gill
NEW YORK–The textiles industry became one of the victims of the failing U.S. economy in 2007, as total sales for the products tracked by HFN fell by nearly 2 percent to slightly more than $19.5 billion.
The industry’s overall total represented a turnaround from 2006, when sales rose by more than 2 percent and topped the $20 billion mark. The biggest drops among the individual categories occurred in down comforters, whose sales plummeted by nearly 6 percent; sheets, down by 3.5 percent; and shower curtains, off 3.2 percent.