Textile Groups Support Mexico Tariff Changes for Apparel
The National Chamber of the Textile Industry of Mexico and the U.S.-based National Council of Textile Organizations sent a Jan. 13 joint letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressing their gratitude to the Mexican government's recent tariff changes for apparel goods.
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The rule change increased duties on clothing items and "effectively ends the Mexican program that allowed Chinese and other e-commerce suppliers to ship goods to ... warehouses, repackage them and ship directly to U.S. customers, while skirting Mexican tariffs and receiving duty-free preferences to" the U.S. market for products largely made in China (see 2412240009).
The industry advocacy groups said that the changes will improve industry conditions and increase market demand in both countries.
"Actions such as these will allow us to continue with our vital production chains and we will be able to continue competing at the international level and generate better jobs for our countries, which send clear signals of the importance of the textile and apparel industry in the region," the groups said.
Groups representing free traders and the apparel industry were less enthused and issued statements advocating for the change to be paused (see 2412310026).
The action undermines the pillars on which the trade relationship between Mexico and the U.S. is based, which "does not bode well for future trade and investment partnerships with the U.S. textile and apparel industry," American Apparel and Footwear Association President and CEO Stephen Lamar said in a LinkedIn post.