Lawmakers Call on USTR to Shed Strict TPP Apparel Rules
The U.S. should pressure more immediate duty reductions and apparel flexibilities in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in order to properly serve U.S. retailers, said a bipartisan group of nearly two dozen House lawmakers in a recent letter to U.S. Trade Representative…
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Michael Froman. TPP negotiations are currently poised to put in place 10-12 duty phaseouts for apparel and a strict yarn forward rule of origin, said the lawmakers, let by Reps. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif. USTR negotiators should improve the apparel terms through full liberalization of “key products, such as cotton sweaters,” more duty cuts and preferential treatment for “cut and sew” products. The yarn forward rule aims to ensure only products wholly sourced in the exporting country receive preferences, while cut and sew rules would give that preferential access to apparel that undergoes a value change just through cutting and sewing. “U.S. apparel retailers pay hundreds of millions of dollars in duties each year; they have higher tariff liability than nearly any other sector in the U.S. economy, and their tariff liability is a hindrance to their global competitiveness,” said the letter (here). Apparel importers have long been pitted against domestic producers in fights over trade policy (see 1503260001). Several of those importers laid out their priorities to Froman in a recent letter (see 1507270017). USTR is set to wrap up the Maui TPP ministerial on July 31.