New EU tariffs targets US fashion imports

The European Union's retaliatory tariffs on US imports have come into force, including 25 percent duty on various fashion items including denim and cotton clothing, as part of the escalating trade war with the US following Donald Trump imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU.

The new tariffs from the EU will hit a range of men’s, children’s and women’s clothing from denim to cotton, as well as certain types of footwear, if imported from the US.

These include an additional 25 percent duty on men’s and boy’s trousers or breeches of cotton denim, and women’s and girls’ cotton denim trousers and breeches, which is being called “the Levi’s tariff” by the mainstream media.

Other fashion items on the EU tariff list includes T-shirts, singlets and other vests made from cotton, wool or fine animal hair that has been knitted or crocheted, or includes manmade fibres.

Women’s or girl’s cotton shorts, men’s or boy’s cotton shorts are included, as are a selection of men’s footwear with outer soles and uppers of leather with in-soles of greater than or equal to 24cm, though exclusions apply on ankle boots, worker boots, sports and orthopaedic footwear for instance.

Other items covered in the new tariffs includes beauty items, steel, tobacco, cigars, whisky, food, and motorcycles.