AAFA applauds tariff exclusion extension for many products – more work still to be done

The American Apparel & Footwear Association welcomed the announcement by the Biden administration today that it would extend exclusions for many of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. The tariff extensions announced today reflect a nine-month extension of 352 product exclusions in the China Section 301 tariffs that had been scheduled to expire at the end of 2022. These exclusions were initially reinstated on March 28, 2022.

"While this is an important step to rein in inflation, there is still much that the administration can do to help the American economy. Tariff costs have been a primary concern for the apparel and footwear industry for years now. Despite accounting for only 6% of all product imports, the industry pays 25% of all tariffs collected by the U.S. government and amount to a huge hidden tax on American families for the clothes and shoes they must buy. In fact, President Biden has now collected far more Section 301 tariffs than President Trump under his tenure," said AAFA President and CEO Steve Lamar.

"Priorities as Congress concludes the year include retroactively reinstating the popular and bipartisan Generalized System of Preferences program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. Early next year we will be pushing for an immediate and long-term renewal of the Haiti HELP/HOPE programs and the AGOA, which was the subject of many discussions during the US Africa Leaders Summit this week Both of these programs are scheduled to expire soon and we are hoping the long history of support each has enjoyed will create an opportunity for bipartisan action early in the next Congress.”