The following is a round-up of apparel and footwear news from the world's local media. 

  • China will cut import tariffs on nearly 800 items from 1 January, including clothing, the Ministry of Finance has said. Import tariffs for leather coats will be cut from 23% to 10%. SHANGHAI DAILY
  • Hundreds of Punjab textile mills have threatened to close down unless the federal government helps to address industry competitiveness. The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) will this month call a conference of stakeholders of the entire textile chain, including the value-added sector, to evolve a joint protest strategy. DAWN
  • A protest involving 30,000 Cambodian garment workers demanding a rise in the minimum wage has entered its second day. The workers from 39 factories in the Manhattan, Tai Seng 1 and Tai Seng 2 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Svay Rieng province's Bavet town started to break windows and destroy factory property as they want the minimum wage to increase to $148 a month. The minimum wage is set to rise to $140 in January. 
  • Bangladesh's apparel value chain is growing faster than any other Asian country because of low-cost manufacturing firms shifting out of China, according to the Asian Economic Integration Report 2015 produced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). DHAKA TRIBUNE
  • One hundred US congressmen from cotton-growing states are pressing the Obama administration for price supports to help struggling US farmers, in the first push to introduce new subsidies since losing a trade case with Brazil last year. The industry's support programme was gutted in the 2014 Farm Bill after the US settled a trade case with Brazil with promises that it would not give direct subsidies for fibre. But cottonseed, a by-product, can be made eligible. REUTERS

just-style has not checked these stories so cannot guarantee their accuracy.