Fashion victims aren't ready to wear trade war

Tariffs wouldn’t be a good look for fashion retailers. Right now, clothing and footwear aren’t included in the list of Chinese products threatened with punitive duties by the US. But as my colleague David Fickling has noted, adding another $200 billion would probably mean consumer goods being drawn into the fray. Clothing accounts for about $35 billion of China’s annual exports to the US, and footwear $15 billion, around 10 percent of the total, according to Dylan Chu, China consumer discretionary analyst at CLSA Ltd. Manufacturing outside of China has developed over the last five to 10 years, partly in response to the country’s rising wage costs. . Other potential sources of supply include Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. Africa is also developing its manufacturing base, including in Ethiopia, Kenya and countries in the north of the continent.