The American Apparel & Footwear Association has said tariffs that the US has announced on imports from Mexico, Canada and China “will inject massive costs” into the shoe and clothing sectors. By Footwearbiz.

It said the US economy was already “inflation-weary” and added that the imposition of tariffs on imports into the US would expose the economy further through “a damaging tit-for-tat tariff war” with key export markets.

At the start of February, US president, Donald Trump, announced tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a rate of 10% on imports from China.

These tariffs were to apply from February 4, but the US has already announced it will delay applying the measures to Mexico for one month. Later, the US also announced a 30-day pause on imposing the tariffs on Canada.

Mexico, Canada and the US have been free-trade agreement partners for more than 30 years.

“We should be forging deeper collaboration with our free-trade-agreement partners, not taking actions that call into question the very foundation of that partnership,” said AAFA chief executive, Steve Lamar.