A quick and transparent exclusion process has been urged by NCTO to raise tariff on Chinese imports worth $200 billion from 10pc to 25pc, including textile items as well as apparel in the list of retaliatory tariff.
Mr Kim Glas, NCTO president and CEO said, “We remain very concerned that finished Chinese textile home furnishings and apparel are not on the administration’s retaliatory tariff list. Chinese imports of finished goods into the U.S. market have the most significant impact on domestic textile and apparel production, investment and jobs. In order to address the crisis, we need to get to the very heart of the problem.”
According to U.S. government data, China predominantly ships end items to the U.S. versus intermediate inputs. Finished apparel, textile home furnishings and other made-up textile goods equate to 93.5 percent of U.S. imports from China in the sector, while fiber, yarn, and fabric imports from China represent only 6.5 percent.
He said, “NCTO also remains seriously concerned that some inputs critical to the competitiveness of US textile manufacturers remain on the retaliation list and will now face a 25 per cent tariff. Duty increases on inputs alone, without addressing the growing problem of end products can raise the cost of US textile manufacturers trying to compete with like Chinese products.”
