It has been more than half a month since the last round of trade negotiations between China and the United States in Geneva came to an end. At that time, the unexpected outcome of the negotiation was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples in the market and triggering positive reactions. However, practitioners in the textile industry cannot hide their concerns. Although tariffs have been reduced, the 20% fentanyl tariff, the 10% additional tariff, along with the existing taxes, are like heavy shackles that still firmly bind them, causing them to feel extremely stressed.
The easing of tariffs brings hope to the textile industry
On May 23rd, Eastern Time of the United States, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besson disclosed a major piece of news in an interview with Fox News: Officials of the Trump administration will once again embark on a negotiation journey with Chinese representatives, focusing on the tariff issue, and he himself will also be present at the negotiation site. More strikingly, Bessent also hinted that "several major" trade agreements are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The key issue of this negotiation directly points to the cancellation of the 20% fentanyl tariff and the remaining 10% equivalent tariff. Bessent emphasized that the relevant agreements are being accelerated and are expected to be gradually unveiled before the 90-day "moratorium on reciprocal tariffs" announced by Trump in early April expires. He also mentioned that the agreement proposals previously put forward by many Asian countries were highly attractive. If these tariffs are relaxed, it will undoubtedly bring new hope for textile enterprises to secure new orders.
The negotiation strategy of the United States is aimed at the European Union
The focus of the recent US tariff negotiations seems not to be China but the European Union. Bessent said that in trade negotiations with the United States, most trading partners were "very sincere", but the European Union was a clear "exception". According to a report by CCTV News on May 23rd, Trump made a statement on social media, proposing to impose a 50% tariff on the EU starting from June 1st. He accused the EU of setting up strong trade barriers, imposing value-added tax, imposing fines on enterprises, as well as having many problems such as non-currency trade barriers, currency manipulation and unfair and unreasonable lawsuits against US companies, saying that the negotiations with the EU "made no progress". However, on May 25th, after Trump had a phone call with EU Secretary-General Ursula von der Leyen, he agreed to extend the tariff negotiation period to July 9th and also described the conversation as "very pleasant". Besent's previous remarks might also have been intended to put pressure on the EU. His sincerity in negotiating with China is truly questionable.
The differences are hard to resolve and the export of the textile industry is under pressure
Looking back at the China-Us trade negotiations, if ideological factors are set aside, there is huge potential for complementary cooperation between the two sides. As a huge consumer market, the United States exports mostly high-tech equipment and technology, agricultural products and energy, all of which are needed by China. Although China's manufacturing industry has undergone transformation and upgrading, most of its added value is still not high. For instance, in the textile and garment industry, due to the production cost issue in the United States, the return of the industry is basically hopeless. On the contrary, it is the high value-added industries in Europe that the United States urgently needs. But now, the first stage of the negotiations between the two sides has completed the parts that were easy to reach consensus on. The remaining parts are all core differences, and the difficulty of the negotiations has sharply increased. Without new "concession chips", it will be difficult to make a breakthrough in the short term.
Tariff reduction and exemption: Can exports break through
For textile enterprises, although exports to the United States have increased recently, nearly 50% of the tax revenue remains a huge obstacle in front of customers. If the next stage of negotiations can indeed cut some tariffs, it will undoubtedly be a piece of good news like a timely rain for the textile industry after a long drought.
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The tariff differences are difficult to resolve, and the textile industry's exports are under pressure
