USFIA's Advocacy Priorities

The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) is dedicated to fashion made possible by global trade

The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) works to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade and to help fashion brands, retailers, and importers comply with regulations and source products in cost-effective, efficient, and ethical ways.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a network of global connections, we engage with the Trump Administration, the U.S. Congress, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and other governing agencies and bodies worldwide to support our members’ policy priorities and provide exclusive intelligence on how trade and customs policy will impact their businesses.

USFIA is committed to helping members make their voices heard to policymakers. Whether there are new legislative proposals, regulations, Executive Orders, or enforcement actions, USFIA will represent the views of fashion brands and retailers. The need for advocacy has never been greater – whether in Washington D.C., state capitals, or at international organizations.

Download USFIA's 2026 Policy Priorities here and explore them in the interactive graphic below.

Our goal for 2026 remains to do what we can to make the world a better place forour customersour colleaguesour suppliers

USFIA Advocacy Priorities for 2026

USFIA is dedicated to supporting fashion made possible by global trade.

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Tariffs on clothing as high as
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Tariffs on footwear as high as

Even before the Trump tariffs, Americans paid unnecessarily high taxes on everything they wear. While the average duty on manufactured products is 2 percent, tariffs on clothing and footwear, including clothing for children and babies, can be as high as 32 percent for clothing and 65 percent for footwear. The elimination of these regressive taxes on American families—and the resulting lower prices—would be the best economic stimulus program in recent history.

In 2026, an important priority for USFIA and the fashion industry is to oppose the use of retaliatory tariffs in trade disputes, particularly retaliatory tariffs on consumer products such as apparel, footwear and accessories. Retaliatory tariffs, including the IEEPA reciprocal tariffs, Section 301 tariffs on imports from China, and the 232 tariffs that include consumer products defined as “derivatives,” punish Americans more than they punish foreign countries and foreign suppliers. These tariffs lead to price increases for American families, and to counter-retaliation by our trading partners. These tariffs also harm American exports, particularly agriculture and services exports.

USFIA supports the negotiation of trade agreements to open markets and eliminate tariffs. We support the extension of the current USMCA textile rules of origin for trade between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. These rules are clear and predictable for the regional supply chain. We also support the USMCA as a trilateral agreement and call for its extension for another 16 years.

In the negotiation of all new trade agreements we ask for immediate reciprocal elimination of all tariffs on textiles, apparel, footwear, and home textiles. We also support rules of origin in all new trade agreements that recognize 21st century global value chains for consumer products and limit the use of restrictive rules to reduce trade, limiting the value of these agreements for America’s most successful globally recognized brands.

Since free trade agreements are not always an option, USFIA supports trade programs to eliminate or reduce duties, including the Miscellaneous Tariff Bills and the expansion of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to include apparel and footwear duty-free benefits for developing countries. We strongly support the immediate renewal of GSP, which expired on December 31st, 2020. We strongly support the immediate renewal of the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Haiti HELP and HOPE programs, which expired in 2025.

In addition to working to lower import taxes, USFIA works to eliminate non-tariff barriers, such as duplicative labeling and regulatory requirements. USFIA supports language in all trade agreements to encourage harmonization and mutual recognition of regulations. USFIA also is actively engaged to support improvements in Customs trade facilitation globally.

Help Companies Source in Socially Compliant & Sustainable Ways

USFIA members are committed to sourcing and manufacturing at the highest standards. They are industry leaders in developing and maintaining business operations that are not only compliant with global standards, but also ethical—from the cotton field to the textile mill, to the apparel factory, and to the retail store.

USFIA shares this story with the Administration, Congress, media, and consumers, educating stakeholders about how fashion brands and retailers are creating change on key issues including factory safety and compliance, global worker well-being and human rights, elimination of forced and child labor, conflict minerals compliance, and environmental sustainability and stewardship. USFIA and our members are committed to being corporate leaders.

Retail and fashion brands support 42 million jobs—that’s 1 in 4 jobs in the United States.

Retail and fashion brands support more than 42 million jobs—that’s 1 in 4 jobs in the United States. These are high-quality jobs in design, product development, logistics, sourcing, and customer service, in addition to manufacturing jobs. These jobs are supported by global value chains—and they will be on track to grow if trade agreements contain rules of origin and market access provisions that will decrease the cost of those fashion products. This would not only help American brands and retailers grow and create more jobs but would also help consumers by providing access to affordable, high-quality apparel. Research on apparel global value chains shows that more than 70 percent of the value of an imported garment is U.S. value.

Research on apparel global value chains shows that more than 70 percent of the value of an imported garment is U.S. value.

Supply chain disruptions, delays and rising costs remain a concern in 2025.

USFIA strongly encourages close engagement and the private-public partnership between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the fashion industry. We support the role of the Center for Excellence & Expertise (CEE) for Apparel, Footwear and Textiles. We continue to work with CBP to address outstanding issues, including the full implementation of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE 2.0) and the requirements on the trade when entries involve Partner Government Agencies. In 2026, key issues include implementation of the Administration’s tariff policy, enhanced Trusted Trader Programs, classification issues, and the ongoing implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

USFIA strongly supports engagement and the private-public partnership between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the fashion industry.

We applaud the role of the Center for Excellence & Expertise (CEE) for Apparel, Footwear and Textiles. We continue to work with Customs to address outstanding issues, including the full implementation of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE 2.0) and the requirements on the trade when entries involve Partner Government Agencies. In 2025, key issues include the 21st Century Customs Framework, enhanced Trusted Trader Programs, classification issues, and the ongoing implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the institution that undergirds multilateral efforts to support expanding global trade and enforcing fair trading rules.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is, of course, the multilateral institution created through U.S. leadership to support expanding global trade and enforcing fair trading rules. USFIA supports the work of the WTO and the consensus-building opportunities created to maintain the global trading system.