Representatives from the U.S. Footwear Manufacturers Association (USFMA) have asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to maintain tariffs imposed on China for engaging in unfair business practices.
The USTR imposed tariffs on China in 2018 after it determined that the Chinese were engaging in unfair trade practices. In November, the USTR opened its public comments phase and asked for input from industry stakeholders on the benefits or drawbacks of the tariffs beginning in November. In response, William McCann, the executive director of the USFMA, wrote in a letter to the USTR that the association wants the tariffs to stay in place, citing benefits to the domestic footwear industry.
"USFMA supports policies that grow the domestic manufacturing of footwear through fair trade, strong manufacturing policies, and programs that protect the industrial base," McCann said on the USFMA website. "The domestic footwear industry is long recognized as sensitive to imported footwear that is manufactured from countries with dramatically lower wages as well as less stringent environmental and labor practices. We strongly support maintaining the current 301 tariffs on China and believe that limiting exclusions on finished products will continue to greatly benefit the domestic footwear industry. Challenges brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the importance of a robust domestic and regional supply chain to support critical industries."
The USTR began investigating China's trade practices in 2017 and determined that they were unfair, which resulted in the imposing of Section 301 tariffs on China; a report from the Akin Gump law firm said. USTR statutes require a review of the tariffs every four years, which is intended to help the USTR determine how effective the tariffs have been and what detrimental effects they might caused.
McCann said that his association strongly supports the tariffs and believes they should be kept in place. He also commented that the domestic footwear industry supports multiple other vital sectors, including the military and medical personal protective equipment. He noted that while the tariffs have been in place over the last four years, investments in domestic footwear manufacturing have increased, enabling some USFMA members to build new facilities and hire more workers.
McCann stated that although the full scope of the impact of the tariffs could be difficult to measure at this time due to the pandemic-related disruptions of the last three years, removing the tariffs now "could undermine future trade negotiations by indicating trade policy in the U.S. cannot be maintained with a changing political landscape." He further noted that getting rid of the tariffs "would substantially weaken the ability of the U.S. to combat malicious Chinese economic influence and harm the progress that has already been made for domestic manufacturing."
On Jan. 17 the American Apparel & Footwear Association, Footwear Retailers & Distributors of America, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and the United States Fashion Industry Association posted a joint study that determined the Section 301 tariffs had a negative impact on the economy. The report cited U.S. government data and a December 2022 survey of companies that source apparel, furniture, footwear and travel goods from China, which said that higher costs resulting from the tariffs were passed on to American companies and consumers, and that "attempting to establish bifurcated supply chains led to even more indirect costs." The report also noted that higher costs had a more significant impact on lower-income and minority households.
