U.S. imports of camping apparel and gear slipped 2.3 percent in August to $716 million, but are running 15.7 percent ahead of a year ago for the year-to-date period through August, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Year-to-date (YTD) imports of camping apparel and gear for the eight months ended Aug. 31 reached $5.78 billion. By comparison, imports of toys, games and sporting goods were essentially flat in August and down 2.2 percent to $22.2 billion for the YTD period.
On the other side of the trade equation, exports of sports apparel and gear slipped 3.5 percent to $55 million in August, but reached $454 million for the YTD period, up 16.7 percent from the same period a year earlier. For the toys, games and sporting goods category, the figures August exports reached $859 million, down 4.0 percent while YTD exports are down 1.4 percent to $6.77 billion.
