Apparel and Footwear Industry Association reacts to Trump Administration tariff list

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The American Apparel & Footwear Association welcomed the decision by the Trump administration to avoid taxing American consumers by excluding new tariffs on apparel, footwear, travel goods, and related products imported from China.

The association’s President and CEO Rick Helfenbein released the following statement:

“We are pleased with the administration’s decision to avoid adding tariffs to U.S. imports of apparel, footwear, and travel goods from China. Tariffs are a hidden, regressive tax on Americans and such a decision would have had a disastrous impact on American consumers,” said Helfenbein.

“At the same time, we are concerned that the list includes tariffs on machinery used in our domestic manufacturing process. This would directly raise costs on domestic manufacturers and impact our ability to grow Made in USA. We will express these concerns with the administration in the coming days, and look forward to working with them on the core concerns of intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer in China.”

The American Apparel & Footwear Association joined with several other organizations to send joint letters to the Administration, including a March 20 letter from organizations representing the apparel, footwear, and home goods industries, and a March 18 letter from associations representing the wider business community.