12 Dec Why Trump’s Trade Policies Would Be Bad for the Fashion Industry
While the president-elect ran a predominantly anti-trade campaign for more than a year — his plans to exit the Trans-Pacific Partnership are well-documented — his latest comments have struck a cord with some footwear-and-apparel trade organizations.
“I don’t know how you apply a trade tariff to a single company and have it be constitutional,” explained Matt Priest, president and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America. “Our global trade system that is so complex and interlocked that I find it hard to believe that there will be an appetite for applying a 35 percent tariff on a company that imports products —whether they left this country or not.”
Trump says that such a tax would help Americans — by keeping companies and jobs in the country — but Priest believes the tax will do just the opposite.