Made in Canada apparel exports to the US remain stable - may 2025

Despite all the concern regarding trade between Canada and the US, trade figures show that Canadian exports of made-in-Canada apparel are stable and in some cases growing over the first few months of 2025. 

One statistic that is available on a real-time basis is the usage of quotas (TPL) which allow Canadian manufacturers to use imported raw materials (yarns/fabrics) in apparel exported to the US. 

These tariff preference levels (TPL) apply to:

• Exports of wool apparel from Canada to the US

• Exports of clothing made from cotton and man-made fibres from Canada to the US

• Exports of Canadian textiles (yarns and fabrics) to the US

There are also similar quotas for US-made and Mexican-made apparel exported to Canada.

Over the first four months of 2025, TPL utilization figures show:

For wool apparel, TPL utilization is up, and in particular, men’s suit exports are up a healthy amount.

For cotton and MM fibre apparel, the shipments are down marginally.

Exports of textiles under the TPL quotas are down significantly.  

In all cases, these changes reflect the volume of goods shipped (displayed in square meter equivalents), not the dollar value of shipments.

Monthly trade statistics showing the dollar value of Canadian apparel exports show that Q1 exports to the US market are down slightly compared to the same period in 2024.

The link to the TPL utilization chart can be found here

Link to all exports of Canadian-made apparel (in dollars), YTD vs. 2024: click here