U.S. apparel prices on the rise, particularly for women s clothes
In 1998, the last time that such prices were regularly rising, China accounted for 7.8 percent of U.S. imports of clothing, other than shoes and knitted items. The latest government figures show that China s market share was 16.3 percent in the first nine months of 2007. During that period, the overall volume of imports doubled and China doubled its market share.