China dominates artificial flower exports to the U.S.

China dominated artificial flower exports to the United States, posting a 22.9% year-on-year growth in 2022, to $1.374 billion, according to Commerce Department data.

This amount also includes artificial leaves, foliage and fruits.

Of total U.S. imports of those products last year, China had a 97.3 percent share.

Other notable suppliers in the remaining supply were Vietnam ($6.6 million), Mexico ($5.5 million), Indonesia ($5.5 million) and Hong Kong ($5.2 million).

Artificial flower

According to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), the world relies heavily on Chinese imports for certain manufactured goods, from consumer goods such as Christmas ornaments, alarm clocks and laptop computers, to intermediate inputs such as cotton yarns, artificial flowers, synthetic fabrics and key compounds for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.

After China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in late 2001, its manufacturing sector grew rapidly, as global companies shifted manufacturing from higher-wage countries to China.

In 2010, China overtook the United States to become the world’s largest manufacturer by output.

Then, in 2019, China accounted for 28.7 percent of global manufacturing output, surpassing the United States (16.8 percent), Japan (7.5 percent), and Germany (5.3 percent).

China’s importance in the world market for manufactured products also increased significantly.

In 2002, about 8.9 percent of global manufactured imports came from China.

Then, in 2015, this share almost doubled, reaching 17.7 percent.

In 2020, after modest declines in 2016-19, the share regained the 2015 level.

Manufacturing

In the period 2002-20, China’s share as the origin of world imports of capital and intermediate goods increased faster than its share of consumer goods.

Also, the global importance of China’s high- and medium-high-tech manufacturing sectors grew more than that of its medium-low- and low-tech sectors.

According to the USITC, these trends can be attributed to the structural changes taking place in China’s manufacturing industry, driven by multiple factors, such as rising labor costs, the development of domestic supply chains and deep integration into global and regional production networks.

In addition, China’s manufacturing industry also experienced technological upgrading during this period, influenced by increased foreign investment and the Chinese government’s favorable policies toward technologically sophisticated industries.