If the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is terminated by President Trump, the immediate impact will be an increase in tariff rate for textile and apparel (T&A) products traded between the three NAFTA members from zero to the most-favored-nation (MFN) rates applied for regular trading partners. In 2017, the average applied MFN tariff rates for textile and apparel were 7.9% and 11.6% respectively in the United States, 2.3% and 16.5% in Canada and 9.8% and 21.2% in Mexico (WTO Tariff Profile, 2017).
Below is NAFTA members’ average applied MFN tariff rate in 2017 for chapters 50-63, which cover T&A products:
Data source: World Trade Organization (2017); US International Trade Commission (2017)
by Sheng Lu
Related article: What Will Happen to the U.S. Textile and Apparel Industry if NAFTA Is Gone?
FASH455 Global Apparel & Textile Trade and Sourcing 