Textile Producer Cotton Imports and the Exchange Rate

This paper estimates exchange rate sensitivity of US cotton imports for three textile producers with floating or regularly adjusting exchange rates since the 1970s, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Thailand. The cotton import market model includes mill use, US production cost, and an alternate supply. Empirical analysis examines effects of the Asian financial crisis. Exchange rate behavior and sensitivity varies across the three importers. Aggregation hides information on market reaction. Changes in the rate of depreciation have stronger effects than changes in the level of the exchange rate.