Susan Scafidi was quoted in a CGTN America article about how US tariffs under Trump administration are affecting handbag makers.
The Trump administration’s trade war with China started with tariffs on steel and aluminum. At the time, the U.S. president said tariffs wouldn’t target consumer goods. But this September he added handbags to a growing list of items to be hit with a 10 percent tariff. It caught many handbag makers off guard. Now many are scrambling to adjust.
OMG Accessories’ handbags used to be made entirely in China. Today roughly 90 percent of them are made in Myanmar.
Retailing for between $25 and $50 they are targeted at the youth market, which is highly price sensitive.
That’s why a year and-a-half ago owner Anne Harper began shifting production out of China into lower-cost Myanmar. The move was not a seamless transition.
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Many handbag makers were unprepared for the trade war started by the Trump administration. They now find themselves having to make some tough decisions: either shift production out of China, which isn’t easy, or swallow the extra cost and pass some of it on to consumers.
“I think the contemporary price points – those handbags that are running between 150 and 500 dollars – that range are going to be affected the most,” said Susan Scafidi, Director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School.