How Much Is China's Clothing Tariff Increased After US Tariffs?

US President Trump has decided to impose a 10% import tariff on the remaining 300 billion Chinese products since September 1st. Clothing has finally been included in the list of levying tariffs, which will have a decisive impact on the global garment trade, leading to the loss of competitive advantage of Chinese clothing to US exports, while American importers will also incur additional costs.

According to the customs catalogue, clothing products (61 categories and 62 categories, knitted garments and woven garments) will be subject to a 10% tariff. For example, tariffs on T-shirts imported from the United States increased to 16%. US tariffs on Chinese clothing have disrupted the global apparel supply chain, and American buyers are trying to get rid of their dependence on the Chinese market.

This year, Chinese clothing exporters try to limit the rise in export prices, and textile production needs to be transferred to other countries, which has a great impact on American retailers and brands.

To measure the impact of tariffs, foreign analysis institutions chose women's cotton denim trousers as a case. Its customs tariff is 6204.62.8011., according to the data provided by the US International Trade Commission. Although Vietnam's products grew in the first few months of this year, China is still the largest supplier of the product. Moreover, the increase in Vietnamese numbers may also include some Chinese products illegally transshipped through Vietnam.

According to the current tariff of 16.6%, the tariff of jeans imported from women cotton in the United States in the 1-5 months of this year is 33 million 310 thousand dollars. If a tariff of 10% is added, the total amount of tariffs that the importer will need to pay will reach US $53 million 400 thousand. The average import price will increase from 112.33 US dollars to 121.69 dollars / dozen, up 30%. The price of jeans exported from other exporting countries will only increase by 17-21%.

Before tariffs were added, the prices of Chinese products were lower than most other places. After the tariff was added, the price of Vietnam was 1% lower than that of China, while the tariffs were 8% higher than that of China. Therefore, 10% of tariffs will have a huge impact on Chinese clothing products. If tariffs are further raised to 25%, the global garment trade will be systematically damaged.