June 1: ... The American Apparel and Footwear Association said in written testimony to the USTR that if GSP benefits are withdrawn for India as well as Indonesia and Thailand, US “companies will have no choice but to return to sourcing from China”. (Source: Business Television India)

May 31: In reference to the footwear and apparel market, Rick Helfenbein, President and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, says President Trump's tariff threats on Mexico are "not fun, not right and damaging to our industry." Yahoo Finance's Dan Roberts, Akiko Fujita and Kristin Myers speak to him. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

May 31: More pressure is being piled on Donald Trump not to impose new tariffs on US shoe imports from China after five trade groups representing the entire US footwear industry wrote to the President to oppose the plans. (Source: just-style - article unlocked)

May 29: A Cambodian court has acquitted six prominent union leaders who had been convicted of instigating violent anti-government protests, amid threats from the European Union to suspend the Southeast Asian country’s duty-free trading access. (Source: Reuters)

May 29: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson conceded Wednesday that he underestimated the opposition his proposed ban of fur apparel sales in the Big Apple would get — adding he’s now planning to re-work it to give fur manufacturers more time to adjust. (Source: New York Post)

May 28: ... the prevailing take on sustainability is one that tends to focus almost purely on the environmental consequences of our activities, looking only at things like water and energy and carbon emissions, and how to ameliorate negative impacts arising with respect to those. I believe this approach is flawed in two significant respects. (Source: Sourcing Journal - article unlocked)

June issue: ... April is when the Administration announced President Trump had a plan to stop fake goods and would sign a presidential memorandum to protect American consumers from counterfeiting. Soon after, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published its annual Notorious Markets List and Special 301 Report. ... Let’s explore what these reports mean for brand protection professionals. (Source: Fashion Mannuscript, op-ed from AAFA's Christina Mitropoulos)

May 31: ... What’s more, Gumball Poodle is enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry, an enhanced suite of tools the company provides eligible brands to protect their intellectual property. But Easley found Amazon’s protections weren’t enough, and she says the company largely ignored her pleas for help. (Source: Wired)

May 30: There are millions of sellers on big Chinese online marketplaces like Taobao and Pinduoduo, and they resell merchandise obtained from a wide variety of sources. A new Chinese law could help cut down on the sale of counterfeit products on Chinese ecommerce sites. (Source: Digital Commerce 360)

AAFA's Rick Helfenbein joined Jessica Dean on CNN
on June 1 to discuss the industry and trade policy.

Your voice could save your business: AAFA is speaking with reporters around the clock from TV to radio to print about the disastrous impacts of punitive tariffs on the $300 billion is U.S. imports from China. AAFA President and CEO Rick Helfenbein has requested to testify and is awaiting a scheduled date; testimony will begin the week of June 17 and could last for weeks. And on May 30, we joined with four other footwear trade groups in sending a letter to the president opposing the proposed use of punitive tariffs on footwear equipment, footwear inputs, and finished footwear imported to the U.S. from China. AAFA members and stakeholders should ACT NOW if you haven’t already.

1. PLEASE SUBMIT A REQUEST TO TESTIFY by Monday, the June 10 deadline. Please talk to Steve Lamar for additional support including a document with step-by-step instructions.

2. Consider speaking out in the press regarding how these policies will impact the industry and our consumers to help reverse the tariff momentum from this administration. We need your help to keep the message relevant and personal now more than ever.

Tariff threats on Mexico: As our industry seeks to diversify out of China, we learned Thursday that the Trump administration has very real intentions of slapping tariffs on ALL goods imported to the U.S. from Mexico. According to the White House statement, the United States will impose a 5% tariff on all goods imported from Mexico starting on Monday, June 10. Tariffs will increase on the first day of each subsequent month to 10%, 15%, 20%, all the way to 25%, dependent upon Mexico’s response to immigration concerns.

AAFA responded with a statement explaining that this move is unfathomable, that Americans will pay more for everything from jeans to cars to computers to machinery, and that these tariffs are disastrous for the American economy. Mexico is the 8th largest supplier of apparel and 7th largest supplier of footwear to the U.S. market. It is the largest supplier of men's and boy's jeans to the U.S. market (35% of imports). AAFA members will continue to receive updates as the situation unfolds, especially members of the AAFA Government Relations Committee who have opted in for more frequent updates, and who help AAFA react forcefully as new tariff threats arise. Contact membership for more on how to access these play-by-play updates from AAFA trade expert Steve Lamar.

In other trade news: AAFA joined with its European counterparts to oppose new tariffs proposed by both the U.S. and the EU as part of the dispute over aircraft subsidies. AAFA also submitted comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission supporting the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, which supports strong U.S.-Haiti trade links.

See all of AAFA’s latest letters, comments, and testimony here.