Japanese clothing brand, Uniqlo, is threatening to exit the US, if President Trump’s proposed Border Adjustment Tax (BAT) goes through.
The retailer, known for its inexpensive cashmere, relies on cheap labor to deliver higher end materials at lower prices. And though they currently have 51 stores in the U.S., and plans to open 20 more within the next year, Tadashi Yani, the president of the brand’s parent company, Fast Retailing, has said that given the hefty import tax that would result from the BAT, they “would not be able to make really good products at costs that are beneficial to American customers,” and that continuing to distribute in the US would be “meaningless.”
While the revival of American manufacturing was a hit with Trump’s fanbase during the campaign, industry experts remain skeptical, given the large infrastructural investments required to make that happen, coupled with America’s unskilled workforce, and numerous studies that have concluded that US citizens will always put price and quality over origin and ethics, even if the majority state otherwise.
You can read more about it at NY Mag.
