Amid reports the United States and China are edging closer to a trade agreement, a group of US business associations – including those representing apparel and footwear brands, retailers and importers – have set out what they see as priorities in a deal to reset US-China trade relations.
In a joint letter addressed to US President Donald Trump, the group – which is called Americans for Free Trade and includes the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), and the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) – says it is encouraged by news reports of progress in resolving the nation’s trade dispute with China.
The industry is currently waiting for news of the next trade summit between the two parties. The third round of talks will follow those in Washington in February and talks in Beijing where US officials met with their Chinese counterparts. In March, President Trump postponed the date of a proposed tariff increase from 10% to 25% on US$200bn worth of imports from China as discussions progressed.
Americans for Free Trade says any deal with China must “fully eliminate tariffs,” and remove all added tariffs when the deal is signed. “Anything that falls short of that goal would be a loss for the American people,” the group says.
The group says any future deal must also truly address China’s unfair trading practices. For too long, China has engaged in “unfair trading practices,” including forced technology transfer, cyber theft, intellectual property violations and more, it explains. “We hope any final deal will resolve the structural issues that are at the core of the trade dispute in order to fully protect American technology, innovation, and intellectual property.”
Third, the administration is being urged to avoid any enforcement mechanism that would trigger future tariffs and result in long-term economic uncertainty. While enforcement must be a part of a final deal, “coming home from the bargaining table with a deal that results in perpetual tariffs would be a failure.”
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By GlobalDataIn addition, the group also calls for clarity on how the exemption process for the first two lists of tariffed products will be impacted by a US-China agreement. “There are many American businesses who have now been waiting for months for exemptions and are on the precipice of receiving relief from the tariffs,” it says, noting in the event of a deal, the relief these companies have been seeking cannot be abandoned.”
Finally, in a move it says is consistent with established practice for trade agreements and other safeguards, Americans for Free Trade says after completing a deal, the federal government must undertake a full economic assessment of the costs of tariffs for American businesses and consumers, particularly before drawing any conclusions about the role tariffs played in negotiations.
“Only through an in-depth look at the costs of import tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, lost markets, trade loss mitigation plans, deferred investments, business uncertainty and other factors will we truly understand the negative economic impact of tariffs as a negotiating tactic. We believe that any true accounting of the costs of the trade war would disprove their effectiveness as a means for negotiating trade outcomes and reinforce the fundamental truth that tariffs are taxes paid by Americans.”
The group concludes by noting, like President Trump it wants a trade deal with China that achieves meaningful change in the two parties’ trading relationship. Tariffs, however, have already proven to be the wrong way to accomplish this goal, it says.
“The economic harm we predicted has come to pass as American businesses and farmers across the country have suffered the consequences from the onslaught of tariffs. It will only worsen if your Administration chooses to retain or add punitive tariffs against China or other countries going forward.”
Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), recently mulled on just-style the consequences of President Trump’s flawed trade strategy – including long-lasting damage to global supply chains.
