A rate-setting moment, not a headline event
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) opened public hearings this morning at the US International Trade Commission on a Section *** tariff action targeting forced labour in global supply chains. Published in the Federal Register on June *, ****, under docket USTR-****–****, the proposal covers ** economies. Roughly **, including India, China, Vietnam and Turkiye, face **.* per cent duties. Fourteen entities face ** per cent, among them are the European Union, Pakistan and Bangladesh (see Table *).
At the centre sits a novel “textile mechanism.” It would offer reduced duties on apparel if the exporting country buys US cotton and US-made man-made fibre (MMF — polyester and viscose-type inputs). USTR has not set the reduced rate. That leaves the single most important number for apparel brands open, with just seventeen days before the current ** per cent global surcharge expires on July **.
The new cost math
