Fashion Group Decries Footwear, Apparel Barriers Across the Globe

A Mexican government decree designed to hit back against undervalued footwear imports is preventing duty reductions and boosting costs for U.S. companies, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Oct. 29 (here). USTR asked for comments in mid-August to compile its annual report on foreign trade barriers (see 14081409). Mexico issued the decree on Aug. 29 (see 14082928). Mexican Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray said around the time of the decree the government will levy a 25-30 percent tariff on footwear imports and establish a floor price for the products (here).

AAFA decried the limitations the decree placed on specific ports of entry that importers can use to bring goods into the country. “Modifying the supply chain to accommodate this restriction will increase costs and delays for AAFA members,” said the comments. Also, “rather than paying duties on the actual declared value of a product at the time of importation, importers are now required to make an advanced guaranteed deposit of import duties based on the government-estimated prices. Not only are these prices extremely high, the Government of Mexico has not disclosed the methodology by which they were established.”

The group also railed against certificate burdens in Argentina and Israel, antidumping duties on Brazilian imports, bureaucratic hurdles in Turkey, Indonesian import licenses, Ecuadorian duties, tariff-rate quotas for some Japanese imports, documentation burdens in China and India and trade barriers cloaked as public safety measures in Canada, among many other barriers. A number of U.S. companies across the industry spectrum have responded to USTR with a laundry list of complaints (see 1410310026 and 1410300015).