More Than Just Threads: A Look at Customs and Importation Issues Within The Fashion Industry

​BY: Natasha Jean-Pierre 
In the world of Social Media Influencers, recycle fashion, and Fast Fashion, it cannot go without notice that consumers want their fashion fast! This puts a lot of pressure on emerging designers, retailers, brands, and boutique owners to efficiently acquire high quality products in the shortest amount of time. Before, you put in your next order with a foreign supplier for  those Khaki pants, there are some U.S. Custom Issues that you should familiarize yourself with. 
First, you must understand that if you hire a foreign supplier for your garments that means that you will be held responsible for customs-related issues that arise.  To protect consumers, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Federal Trade Commission wants to ensure that garments imported from other countries comply with US law. If you were ever wondering why clothing labels on your garments were as long as a CVS receipt, you have the Textile Act and the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 to thank. Under this act the Federal Trade Commission requires that most textiles and wool products have a label detailing:

• the fiber content
•  the country of origin 
•  the identity of the manufacturer of business responsible for handling that item
• the label must be securely attached to the product until its delivered to the consumer
• if the label is on a shirt it must be in the inside of the neck hole
• if on non-shirt apparel, they must conspicuously appear labels must be included when the garment is ready to be sold to customers 

Make sure to ask your foreign supplier if they are aware of these requirements to ensure that your garments will successfully enter the U.S. You must also pay duties, taxes, file entry documents, and acquire a Bill of Lading before you obtain your items with the U.S. Border patrol. 
Here is a helpful checklist for questions you may want to consider when hiring a foreign supplier:

• The legitimacy of the foreign factory from which the importer intends to order goods.
• How much lead time will the foreign supplier need to make and ship  the goods to the U.S.?
• How much they will need to pay in order to bring goods to the U.S.?
• Will there be a bond to import garments? 
• Has the supplier ever had items rejected by U.S. Customs?
• Arrange the transport of the goods to the U.S.
• Will there be an Import quota? Will U.S Customs restrict the  number of goods imported during a certain period of time from the supplier?