26 May “We see the TPP not only in terms of the countries currently in the agreement, but as a blueprint to the future of footwear trade.”
Today, FDRA sent a letter to Congressional leaders that everyone in the footwear industry should read. It lays out a new argument about the future of footwear trade through the TPP and pushes Congress to help make it a reality. The letter also renews FDRA’s call for footwear to be added to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
“Make no mistake, the TPP is the future of footwear trade. No other policy initiative will impact our industry over the next 50 years as the TPP,” said FDRA President Matt Priest. “FDRA sees other countries joining the agreement in the future, such as Indonesia and Cambodia — giving our industry a growing number of new and permanent duty free sourcing options. It is the industry’s top priority for that very reason and we are delivering that message to Congress full force, with no mixed messages.”
FDRA also once again called on Congress to add footwear to GSP when it considers the program’s renewal. FDRA has pushed for this since 2013. On GSP, Priest stated:
“GSP allows duty free imports from developing countries and FDRA has lead the charge to have footwear added for several years. This important change would help some companies seeking to diversify their sourcing from traditional locations for a period of time. FDRA does not see this as the top priority because countries in the GSP program do not have the current capacity to produce large amounts of footwear for the American marketplace, and the program will not provide long term duty advantages due to its structure. However, we want to make a point to Congress that we will use any tool in our legislative arsenal to lower footwear duties no matter where our footwear is made.”