The Trump Administration apparently will not heed the pleas of more than 100 U.S. trade associations who last month sought an executive order to temporarily suspend duties on Chinese imports, including footwear, as a means to counter impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked in an email if the issue of shoe tariff relief was dead, Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America President Matt Priest responded, “For all intents and purposes, yes… White House has struck it down repeatedly.”

The FDRA, joined by other organizations and members of Congress, has been calling for this change since March 10, suggesting industry vendors and retailers need the duty relief to help manage their respective operations during the current crisis. Recent research from the American for Free Trade international trade consultancy found that suspension of tariffs under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act would elevate the U.S. economy by more than $75 billion. The coalition of trade groups unsuccessfully argued that a temporary stop to the duties would return discretionary income to families, encourage capital expenditures by private companies and infuse market confidence in actions related to combatting the current economic climate.

Meanwhile, on another trade issue, estimates suggest March U.S. retail container imports dropped to their lowest level in five years and are projected to remain significantly below normal levels through early summer as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, according to the Global Port Tracker report from Hackett Associates and the National Retail Federation released yesterday. The early estimate on March imports suggest they fell more than 21 percent year over year to their lowest level since Feb. 2015, when a labor dispute at West Coast ports impacted their flow.