Obama Administration Should Pressure Japan on Footwear TRQ, Says AAFA President
The Obama Administration should ensure the Japanese tariff rate quota (TRQ) on U.S.-made and U.S.-branded leather footwear is removed through Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, said American Apparel and Footwear Association Executive Vice President Steve Lamar in an April 7 letter…
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to President Barack Obama. Japan currently allows 12 million pairs of leather shoes annually in its TRQ, then 4,300 yen or a 30 percent duty is applied to additional imports, equating to about $45 per pair of shoes, said Lamar. “Japan’s leather footwear TRQ should be part of your call for Japan to increase its ambition on market access and reducing barriers to trade as part of the TPP negotiations,” said Lamar. “Japan’s longstanding footwear quotas have been a significant and costly barrier to U.S. footwear companies trying to enter the Japanese market. Japan’s leather footwear TRQ has been in place since 1952.” The Japanese TRQ represents another area of TPP discord, said Matt Priest, president of Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, in late February (see 14022504).