NCTO backs pause on penalty tariffs for Mexico, calls for higher tariffs on China

The National Council of Textile Organisations (NCTO) has said that it welcomes president Donald Trump’s decision to delay a planned 25 percent tariff on Mexican imports by one month, yet demands stricter measures on Chinese imports.

Trump opted to put a pause on Mexican tariffs following a call with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who said she had a “good conversation” with her US counterpart that ultimately led to the agreement. Mexico has thus agreed to send 10,000 members of its national guard to “prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the US”, and in return, Trump has agreed to bolster initiatives preventing certain weapons from crossing the border.

NCTO president and chief executive officer, Kim Glas, said the organisation was “grateful” that an agreement was reached, and underlined its support for the president’s intention to “resolve issues related to migration and fentanyl poisoning as quickly as possible so that we can ensure a normalised trading relationship”.

Mexico is the US textile industry’s largest export market for American fibres, yarns and fabrics, Glas noted, with the two regions being a part of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which represents 12.5 billion dollars in combined US exports.

NCTO outlines tariff blueprint to counter China’s ‘predatory’ practices

While Glas welcomed the latest U-turn in regards to Mexican tariffs, she called for “higher penalty tariffs on China” that would mitigate the country’s “massive predatory and often illegal trade practices”, such as the “egregious use of forced labour”, which Glas says has "severely damaged the domestic textile industry”.

In a “tariff blueprint”, the NCTO requested for Trump to raise tariffs for Chinese imports on finished apparel and textiles beyond the previously proposed 10 percent; eliminate the de minimis tariff waiver exception for all countries, including Mexico and Canada; intensify customs enforcement to stop illegal undervaluation of imports in apparel-related goods; and maximise customs penalties for repeat trade violators.

Glas added: “This is a tariff blueprint not only for textiles but for all US manufacturing. It values the North American coproduction chain that is responsible for millions of US manufacturing jobs and billions in two-way trade.

“Moreover, it targets the true culprit in the international trade arena—China—which has utilised state sponsored subsidies, dumping and other illegal pricing schemes, and unethical labour and environmental practices to destroy global competitors and cause massive manufacturing investment and employment to concentrate in China.”