The United States on Saturday called out multiple countries, among them China and India, over their “unfair trade practices” which it alleged were “harming” America’s textiles and apparels sector.
In a social media post, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said that China’s domestic manufacturers were enjoying “unfair competitive advantages” due to non-market policies and practices by China in the textiles and apparel sector.
“These policies are enabling Chinese manufacturers to charge artificially low prices for their products. US textile and apparel manufacturers have been negatively impacted with 28 plants closing in the past 22 months,” USTR wrote.
Further, it noted that China accounted for 21% of $79.3 billion worth of apparels imported by the United States in 2024. Chinese e-commerce firms, it stated, were responsible for over 30% of all daily de minimis shipments into America, flooding the US market with “cheap apparel products” while bypassing tariffs and evading trade enforcement mechanisms.
“The influx of cheap apparel has decimated local industries, particularly in the southeast United States,” USTR said.
IndiaAccording to USTR, American exporters were being “disadvantaged” as the Indian textile industry was benefitting from “high tariffs, opaque quality control rules, and a web of unpredictable import licensing requirements.”
On the other hand, the playing field was “uneven” for US manufacturers as India’s export promotion schemes and production-linked incentives provided Indian manufacturers with a “competitive edge.”
European Union
USTR accused the European Union (EU) of imposing new “non-tariff barriers,” leaving US exporters with “burdensome compliance costs.”
The “barriers” mentioned by USTR are: eco-design requirements under the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles; “steep” extended producer responsibility fees, and digital product passports with “unrealistic implementation timelines.”
Which other countries did USTR call out?
In its social media post, the USTR also called out Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kenya, Cambodia, Turkey, and Peru.
