WASHINGTON: U.S. retailers and other business groups on Monday welcomed a move by the Trump administration to allow importers to defer for three months any tariff payments they owe the government, but said they needed more tariff relief to deal with the pandemic.
"These are just the customs duties," he said."There’s no change in tariff rates or tariff policy," he said. Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel Footwear Association, welcomed the administration's move, but said limiting the goods that qualify for deferral would limit benefits for both U.S. employers and U.S. supply chains."We urge that all goods – including textiles, apparel, footwear, and accessories facing Section 301 tariffs – be covered by this deferral action. Every day we have to pay those duties means another day we can’t pay our workers," Lamar said.
Weeks-long closures were having a"severely acute" impact on retailers, NRF President Matthew Shay said in a statement.