U.S. Shoemakers, Importers Could Clash Over TTIP Footwear Provisions

A group of U.S. footwear manufacturers is at odds with an alliance of U.S. and European Union footwear distributors and retailers over demands for provisions in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that the U.S. shoemakers charge would incentivize fraudulent transshipment through immediate tariff elimination and too flexible rules of origin. In a joint declaration signed last month by the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) and the European Confederation of the Footwear...