The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has testified against new tariffs proposed by the US on French imports, which includes handbags, in a move it says could impact both domestic workers and consumers.

The Trump Administration last week said it may slap duties of up to 100% on US$2.4bn worth of French imports of Champagne, handbags, cheese and other products. It argues that France’s new digital services tax will harm US tech companies.

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In a testimony to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday (7 January), AAFA SVP for policy, Nate Herman, said: “If a punitive tariff is imposed by the US government, our members will be forced to source fewer handbags, which will obviously lead to lower sales, which impacts our workers – American workers. Or, our members will be forced to charge higher prices, which again will lead to lower sales, which again impacts our workers – American workers. This is quite literally a tax that hits Americans in the pocketbook.”

According to the AAFA, over 99% of all handbags sold in the US today are imported. Handbags are no longer made in America, and haven’t been for decades.

As a result, US companies imported more than 1.4m handbags from France in 2018, more than double 2017 imports. And American workers design, develop, market, and sell the handbags to US consumers.

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“The selection of handbags for retaliation baffles us as they have nothing to do with this tax, or even with digital services,” Herman continued.

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“Because of this lack of connection, they will also do nothing to change the behaviour of France in this dispute. Yet, retaliation against these products, if implemented, will have a significant impact on our industry, and our American workers.”