Following the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s hearing in August on the third proposed list of $200 billion in tariffs, the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) filed comments urging the Administration to remove certain apparel products and consumer goods from the list.
“The Administration has proposed tariffs on many items manufactured and sold by USFIA members, which will have a direct impact on American consumers, especially during the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons,” we said. “Of particular concern to USFIA’s member companies and consumers are the proposed tariffs on hats and headwear in HTSUS Chapter 65; luggage and handbags in Chapters 42 and 46; leather and faux leather apparel and products in Chapter 42; and lamps and furniture in Chapter 94. Our members also have concerns about the proposed tariffs on cookware in Chapter 73; picture frames in Chapter 83; plastic articles including rainwear and hangers in Chapter 39; certain electrical equipment including vacuum cleaners and television sets in Chapter 85; paper products in Chapter 48; articles of wood including jewelry boxes in Chapter 44; aluminum products including sanitary ware in Chapter 76; feathers used for stuffing and down in Chapter 5; textile products including felt and nonwovens and certain yarns in Chapter 56; and specialty textile products including embroidery in Chapter 58.”
The comments explain how the tariffs will harm consumers and jobs in the United States, while doing nothing to solve the IPR challenges with China; furthermore, the tariffs will actually discourage sourcing and manufacturing within the United States. The comments are available here.
In addition, USFIA joined multi-industry comments from a coalition of more than 150 trade associations representing U.S. retailers, manufacturers, farmers, technology companies, natural gas and oil companies and other industries. “Our organizations agree that longstanding issues in China have negatively impacted many U.S. companies, and we support the administration’s efforts to negotiate meaningful, binding and long-term solutions with the Chinese government, (but) applying these high levels of tariffs on Chinese products will continue to miss the mark,” we said.
USFIA joined additional comments from apparel, soft-goods, and retail associations, as well, available here.