By Keith Nuthall

According to Julie Hughes, president of the Washington-based US Fashion Industry Association (USFIA), only 14% of apparel imported into the US actually takes advantage of the FTAs that the US has signed with 20 other countries.

The USFIA represents US-based textile and apparel brands, retailers, importers, and wholesalers doing business globally, and works to eliminate the tariff and non-tariff barriers that impede the industry's ability to trade freely.

"There's a combination of reasons for this but the main one is that the US FTAs are incredibly complicated and each one is different from the other, so there is a very large upfront administrative commitment," said Hughes in an interview with just-style, highlighting the need for importers to ensure related origin and other rules are complied with.

Click here to read the entire article on the just-style website.