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US AAFA welcomes order for duty deferral, NCTO concerned
21 Apr '20
2 min read
Pic: Shutterstock
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) welcomed the partial duty deferral offered by the US administration, while acknowledging that more needs to be done to help US businesses survive the COVID-19 crisis. The National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO), however, expressed concern over the executive order instituting a non-reciprocal 90-day deferral on certain tariffs.
The executive order provides authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to defer a limited number of duty payments up to 90 days if a company can show economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However it does not defer duty payments or fees on any goods that face punitive tariffs imposed by the US administration in its trade war with China.
The deferral will provide some of the liquidity needed to keep more Americans employed and more US companies operational during this crisis, AAFA chief executive officer Steve Lamar said in a statement.
As limiting the goods that qualify for deferral will in turn limit the relief that is provided for US employers and also limits the beneficial impact for US supply chains that have been mobilised to meet the personal protective equipment shortage, AAFA urged that all goods, including textiles, apparel, footwear, and accessories facing Section 301 tariffs, be covered by this deferral action.
“At a time when domestic textile producers and its workforce have mobilized to transform their production lines to manufacture the PPE supplies for frontline healthcare and medical workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration’s decision to defer duties for 90 days on the vast majority of products imported into the United States is counterproductive,” NCTO said in a press release.
“This move contradicts the administration’s top stated priority of rebuilding American manufacturing and buying American and could have severe negative implications for the entire US textile industry, whose companies and workforce already are facing enormous economic hardship,” it added.
The executive order provides authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to defer a limited number of duty payments up to 90 days if a company can show economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However it does not defer duty payments or fees on any goods that face punitive tariffs imposed by the US administration in its trade war with China.
The deferral will provide some of the liquidity needed to keep more Americans employed and more US companies operational during this crisis, AAFA chief executive officer Steve Lamar said in a statement.
As limiting the goods that qualify for deferral will in turn limit the relief that is provided for US employers and also limits the beneficial impact for US supply chains that have been mobilised to meet the personal protective equipment shortage, AAFA urged that all goods, including textiles, apparel, footwear, and accessories facing Section 301 tariffs, be covered by this deferral action.
“At a time when domestic textile producers and its workforce have mobilized to transform their production lines to manufacture the PPE supplies for frontline healthcare and medical workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration’s decision to defer duties for 90 days on the vast majority of products imported into the United States is counterproductive,” NCTO said in a press release.
“This move contradicts the administration’s top stated priority of rebuilding American manufacturing and buying American and could have severe negative implications for the entire US textile industry, whose companies and workforce already are facing enormous economic hardship,” it added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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