US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 6th March that would exempt the majority of items imported from Mexico and some from Canada from his four-week trade tariff regime. About 38 per cent of Canadian imports and roughly half of Mexican imports will be exempt from tariffs.
Washington said the tariff hike on Canada and Mexico will be lifted for at least a month for all USMCA-compliant products, including clothing and textiles.
Although the most recent executive order has temporarily stopped the tariff increase on many US imports from Mexico and Canada, including textiles and apparel, Sheng Lu, a professor of apparel and textile studies at the University of Delaware, stated that the impending reciprocal tariffs in April continue to be a major source of uncertainty for US fashion companies that source from the region.
Notably, the US textile sector and clothing manufacturers in Mexico and Canada have a robust co-production supply network. Mexico and Canada were the top export destinations for US textile manufacturers in 2024, accounting for more than 60 per cent of US yarn and fabric exports. In the meantime, the US market accounts for over 90 per cent of Mexico’s exports of clothing, the majority of which use textile inputs manufactured in the US.
The president of the National Council of Textile Organisations, Kim Glas, expressed gratitude to the president for temporarily suspending the 25 per cent penalty tariffs on eligible imports from Canada and Mexico under the USMCA trade agreement.
