The US Hide, Skin and Leather Association (USHSLA) and Leather Industries of America (LIA) have joined forces to urge the Trump administration not to move forward with proposed tariffs on imported handbags from the European Union. In April the US government included leather handbags on a list of EU-made products on which it would impose tariffs in retaliation for European aircraft subsidies. However, the two leather industry bodies have written to the government in Washington DC to point out that attempts to increase tariffs on handbags imported from Europe will hurt the domestic hide and leather sector in the US. In the first three months of 2019, tanners in Italy imported almost 340,000 wet blue hides from the US, with a combined value of more than $37.5 million. “Robust, unrestricted trade is critical to the US hides, skins and leather industry, which exports annually more than 95% of its total domestic production to key markets, including the EU,” the two organisations said in their comments. “Implementing the proposed retaliation against EU leather handbag imports, which use substantial US inputs, would detrimentally affect US hides, skins and leather companies, their employees and ancillary industries.” They went on to say that placing tariffs now on the European supply chain partners of US hide and leather producers would “unravel decades of market development work” by the US industry and would place “further strain” on the US companies the two bodies represent. LIA and USHSLA said that the “significant challenges” these companies already face include declining prices, retaliatory tariffs in other key markets (most notably China) and reduced demand globally for leather.
Source – APLF.
