REFAYET ULLAH MIRDHA

The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), along with several other organisations, has urged the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the US government’s chief trade body, not to impose any new tariffs on countries currently under investigation over production capacity.

In a letter sent to the USTR on April 15, the AAFA warned that additional tariffs on supplying countries could raise costs for American consumers.

Last month, the USTR launched an investigation into 60 economies, including Bangladesh, over alleged failures to address issues related to production capacity and forced labour.

Bangladesh is scheduled to take part in a virtual USTR hearing on the matter on April 29.

The AAFA said in its letter that the US already imposes relatively high tariffs on textiles, apparel, footwear and accessories, even though these products contain significant US value, including intellectual property, raw materials such as leather, and textile inputs like yarns and fabrics.

As a result, textiles, apparel, footwear and travel goods face higher effective tariff rates than most other sectors.

The letter added that this burden disproportionately affects the industry, even though many of these goods are no longer produced in commercial quantities in the US.

It further said that although some countries identified in the investigation may run trade surpluses in certain product categories, these do not necessarily reflect structural excess capacity or practices that distort or restrict US commerce.

The concept of structural excess capacity does not reflect conditions in the US industry, it added.

Instead, the AAFA said, these trade flows are shaped by globally integrated supply chains, where production capacity is developed and used based on business decisions, long-term customer relationships and changing demand patterns.