On July 10, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced a list of proposals to impose a 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese products exported to the United States. The U.S. proposed tax list covers 6,031 tax codes, of which more than 1,000 tax codes are for textile and clothing products, involving most textile raw materials, semi-finished products and a small amount of clothing accessories, mainly including textile raw materials (cotton, silk, wool, linen, etc.); yarns and fabrics (cotton, wool, silk, hemp, chemical fiber, glass fiber and other products); carpets; industrial textiles; leather and fur clothing, hats and gloves, plastic raincoats, etc. Commodities such as woven clothing, knitted clothing and home textile products with large export volumes from China to the United States are not included in the list.
Throughout 2017, China’s exports of textiles, clothing and raw materials to the United States were US$45.64 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1%, accounting for approximately 10.6% of China’s total exports of goods to the United States. The United States is the largest single country market for my country’s textile and apparel exports, accounting for 16.9% of my country’s total textile and apparel exports. In 2017, my country’s exports of textiles, clothing and raw materials to the United States reached 35,000.
According to preliminary statistics, the tax list announced by the United States involves approximately US$10.3 billion in Chinese textile and apparel exports to the United States, accounting for 22.6% of China’s textile, apparel and raw material exports to the United States, and involves about 20,000 export companies.
After the U.S. government announced the list, the National Retailers Association immediately expressed opposition. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch responded in a statement that Trump’s latest tariff measures are “reckless” and that tariffs cannot be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China, nor can they guarantee the long-term health and prosperity of the U.S. economy. .
After imposing taxes on $50 billion of Chinese products exported to the United States, the United States ignored WTO rules and the calls of Chinese and American industries and formulated a tax list of $200 billion. Such practices of launching a trade war, violating market rules, applying extreme pressure and blackmail have seriously harmed the interests of the people and businesses of China and the United States. Once the tax measures are implemented, they will inevitably seriously damage the interests of Chinese textile and apparel companies and industries, hurt the interests of American consumers and companies, and put Sino-US economic and trade cooperation relations in danger.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles firmly opposes the U.S.’s imposition of taxes on Chinese textile and apparel products, and will actively organize companies exporting to the U.S. to respond. After the United States publishes the list of recommendations, it will also go through procedures such as soliciting public opinions and hearings. The hearings will be held from August 20 to August 23, and the final results are expected to be announced after August 30. We will collect opinions from relevant companies as soon as possible, strengthen communication with industry organizations of U.S. textile and apparel importers and retailers, provide comments on behalf of the industry, and firmly support the Chinese government in making strong countermeasures against the unreasonable actions of the United States.
China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles
July 11, 2018
