NCTO Says Section 301 Tariffs on Apparel Should Remain

The National Council of Textile Organizations, the Narrow Fabrics Institute and the U.S. Industrial Fabrics Institute told the administration in response comments that if 7.5% Section 301 tariffs on apparel are lifted, it could risk "reversing once-in-a-lifetime nearshoring trends."

Around $3.7 billion worth of pre-tariff volumes of textile products are covered under 25% tariffs, according to a professor who studies the textile and apparel industry, but most of the textile and apparel products are on the larger 7.5% list. “Cancelling these tariffs would create further unhealthy dependence on Chinese supply chains and embolden future systematic trade abuses as bad actors know that the U.S. will not hold them accountable,” they wrote.

The groups said that without "substantive improvements in China’s pervasive, predatory trade practices," no tariffs should be lifted. They also argued that it would do nothing to ease inflationary pressures.