Bilateral Fiber and Textile Trade

The Uruguay Round's 1995 Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) mandated the phaseout of import quotas sanctioned for decades under agreements like the 1974 Multifiber Arrangement (MFA). Having access to bilateral trade data across the various products within the fiber-textile sector lays the foundation for better understanding of trade patterns and can underpin analyses of potential changes as the policy environment evolves. This database provides information about source-destination trade flows among 42 exporting and importing country/regions on 43 fiber, textile, and clothing product aggregates on an annual basis from 1992 to 2002.

Features

The World Bids Farewell to the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) (February 2006) describes the genesis and consequences of the MFA and the impacts of its removal. China, India, and Pakistan are the cotton-textile-exporting countries expected to benefit most from the MFA's demise. However, global cotton use is largely being driven by other factors, such as income growth. For the full report, see

The Forces Shaping World Cotton Consumption After the Multifiber Arrangement

(April 2005).

The September 2004 Amber Waves data feature, The Changing World Network of Trade in Textiles and Apparel, highlights recent changes in the nature of textile and clothing trade and draws implications about the impact of complete MFA quota removal.

Note: This data product is no longer being updated. 

Data Set Last Updated Next Update
Changing network of world net exports of textiles and clothing 12/8/2004
Industrialized countries' export supply and import demand of textiles and clothing 12/8/2004
Developing countries' export supply and import demand of textiles and clothing 12/8/2004
Source of U.S. and European Union textile and clothing imports 12/8/2004
The newly industrializing countries in Asia are losing market shares in textiles and clothing while developing countries, and especially China, are increasing their shares 12/8/2004
Developing- and industrializing-country export specialization patterns in clothing and textiles 12/8/2004
The 2002 global network of textile and clothing exports to high-income areas 12/8/2004
Changes in the global network of textile and clothing exports to high-income areas between 1992 and 2002 12/8/2004
U.S. trade in clothing, textiles, fibers, and cotton 12/8/2004
U.S. cotton's fiber trade profile 12/8/2004
Commodity/product makeup of U.S. and global fiber and textile exports, 2001-02 12/8/2004
Fiber content of global trade of textiles and clothing in 1992-93 and 2001-02 12/8/2004
Cotton-based imports of textiles and clothing (T&C) as a share of total T&C imports 12/8/2004
Textile and clothing exports as a share of total merchandise exports 12/8/2004