Japan economy and textile industry

JAPAN

I.Introduction

General Business Environment

Japan imports large amount of textiles and clothing products and this trend has increased over the long term. Japan has no experience of using safeguard measures pursuant to MFA (Multi-lateral Fiber Agreement) and ATC (Agreement on Textiles and Clothing).

The recent situation in the Japanese textile and clothing industry is characterized by the fact that imports, most of which are apparel and clothing products, have been expanding more rapidly since 1999. Imports recorded high growth of 14% in 1999, and 15% in 2000. In 2001, imports still increased 1.9% compared with the previous year.

The import penetration rate of all textiles and clothing products has risen almost constantly, and reached 67.4% in 2001.

Due to this sharp increase in imports, the production of the domestic textile and clothing industry has declined greatly. At the same time, the numbers of employees and corporations have also decreased.

Clothing and Textiles

Alpaca-wool. Svenska: Alpackaull

Original Description: Fabric merchant. Samarkand. ...

Reference 1: Trends in Exports, Imports and Import Penetration Rate for Textiles and Clothing Products (Unit: thousand tons)

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @Exports @ @ @ @ @Imports

1998 @ @ @ @ @ @ @458 1,422

1999 476 1,627

2000 489 1,869

2011 482 1,904

Reference 2: Import Penetration Rate

1998 55.4%

1999 60.2%

200064.6%

200167.4%

Note: In calculating the Import Penetration Rate, the product volume is converted into weight of fiber.

Reference 3: Trends in Internal Production of Textiles and Clothing

(1995= 100)

1998 1999 2000 2001

Index of Production 84.9 79.6 75.2 68.9

The Role and Position of the Textile and Clothing Sector in the Japanese Economy

The textile and clothing industry is one of the key industries in Japan. Employment in the textile and clothing industry in Japan accounts for 7% of total manufacturing employment. The textile and clothing sector, including manufacturing,