American businesses and consumers have been adversely affected by the imposition of the punitive Section 301 tariffs that began in 2018, as per a recent study conducted by American industry bodies.

The three key findings of the study are negative impact of the tariffs—higher costs and higher prices—fell on US companies and American families; the tariffs have led to a host of significant indirect costs, including those associated with attempts to establish bifurcated supply chains; and increased prices on consumer goods have had a greater negative impact on American households for which those goods represent greater shares of household income. These were households in the lowest 20 per cent of income groups, minority-headed households, and households headed by individuals without a college education.

American businesses and consumers have been adversely affected by the imposition of the punitive Section 301 tariffs that began in 2018, as per a recent study. Tariffs on US imports of apparel, footwear, and travel goods, in particular, are among the highest in the US tariff code, even absent the Section 301 duties on US imports from China.

The joint industry study titled ‘Impacts of Section 301 Tariffs on Imports from China’ provides an in-depth assessment of the impacts of the Section 301 tariffs over the last four years on US imports of apparel, footwear, travel goods, and furniture imported from China.

Tariffs on US imports of apparel, footwear, and travel goods, in particular, are among the highest in the US tariff code, even absent the Section 301 duties on US imports from China. For example, US MFN duties on low-value and children’s footwear are much higher than those on other types of footwear. The Section 301 duties add considerably—sometimes up to 25 per cent—to this tariff burden for products imported from China, as per the study.

To put it in perspective, the tariffs most heavily impacted US imports from China of waterproof footwear. The tariffs imposed an annual direct cost on US importers of over $250 million, escalating every year to over $450 million in 2022. No footwear tariff exclusions were granted to mitigate the negative impacts of the tariffs on footwear sourcing companies. According to Mercatus Center, every one of the 442 footwear product exclusion requests filed was denied.

The study is based on US government data amplified by responses to a December 2022 survey of American companies sourcing those goods from China. It was conducted by the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), the Footwear Retailers and Distributors of America (FDRA), the National Retail Federation (NRF), the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)