The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and 65 industry groups representing the textile, apparel, footwear, travel goods and fashion industry recently urged governments and international financial institutions for coordinated efforts to address the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The groups are from every part of the global supply chain.
As companies have closed retail locations in response to social distancing needs, revenue used to employ millions of workers around the globe has dried up. This lost revenue has had knock-on effects through the global supply chain.The American Apparel & Footwear Association and 65 industry groups representing the textile, apparel, footwear, travel goods and fashion industry recently urged governments and international financial institutions for coordinated efforts to address the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The groups are from every part of the global supply chain.#
To respond to this economic crisis, the groups requested governments and international financial institutions to enact temporary stimulus measures to ensure liquidity; undertake temporary duty deferral and tariff relief to support liquidity and cash flow, and keep workers employed; and refrain from imposing new trade restrictions and not impede production or delivery of personal protection equipment (PPE), its intermediate products, or raw materials.
In the statement, the organisations recognised that many of these items were addressed in a G-20 statement released in March, but add that, “words mean a lot, but the actions will determine how fast and how well we can emerge from this crisis.”
“Companies are desperate for cash to pay their workers and suppliers, while at the same time access to revenue is down due to closed stores,” said AAFA president and chief executive officer Steve Lamar in a press release.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)