The Clean Clothes Campaign has asked US and global fashion companies to ensure the costs of Trump’s new tariff policies are not offloaded onto garment workers that can least afford it.
Instead, the NGO is urging fashion brands to absorb the costs themselves rather than pushing them down the supply chain.
The Clean Clothes Campaign’s request follows local news reports in Bangladesh that claim leading US fashion brands such as Levi and Walmart have asked for discounts from their Bangladesh factory suppliers due to the tariffs. The same reports claim that US fashion brand Gap has told its suppliers to pay the extra tariffs.
Just Style had not received a response to a request for comment from Levi or Walmart at the time of going to press, however a Gap spokesperson refuted the claims but declined to comment further.
The Clean Clothes Campaign points out current pricing is already insufficient to guarantee workers receive living wages and decent working conditions.
It states: “It is clear where the price for such forced discounts eventually will be paid: by the workers.”
The NGO is also concerned that employer federations in several garment-producing countries have already started threatening with repercussions and fallen into the trap of fostering regional competition.
It explains the threat that jobs will be relocating to other countries less affected by the tariffs, which means cuts on wages and increased working hours are being suggested.
However, it says: “It is important that workers in garment producing countries stand together in a shared approach to address this issue.”
The Clean Clothes Campaign’s message to all companies across the fashion supply chain is not to repeat the mistakes of the Covid pandemic, when “global garment companies’ knee-jerk responses to adversity solely prioritised the company’s profitability and financially devastated millions of workers already employed on poverty wages”.
It adds that given the countries with the highest tariffs already had workers on below-subsistence pay they will have no savings to fall back on: “Any renewed attempt of companies to offload costs on workers by lowering prices paid for products, cutting wages, increasing unpaid overtime or endangering jobs by relocating production, will leave workers cutting meals and increasing their debts.”
John Kernan, a senior research analyst covering retail and consumer brands at TD Securities believes the sector supply chain needs a costly reboot.
In an industry overview report he suggests: “Geopolitical tensions and now tariffs have created an existential moment for strategy behind many retailer and brand sourcing and overall cost structures.
