The average tariff rate for U.S. apparel imports (HS Chapters 61 and 62) reached 35.1% in December 2025, hitting a new high in decades and a sharp rise from 14.7% in January 2025, before President Trump’s second term. According to statistics from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), and other government agencies, the hiking of tariffs and associated policy uncertainty has affected U.S. apparel sourcing and trade in multiple ways.
Impacts on Apparel Import Price
Apparel sourcing cost pressure increased in 2025, although price changes varied by fiber type. Data from OTEXA shows that, measured in dollars per square meter equivalent (SME), the unit price of US apparel imports increased from $3.08/SME in 2024 to $3.14/SME in 2025, a 2% year-over-year increase. Notably, due to an overall downward trend in world cotton prices, the unit price of US cotton apparel imports was almost flat in 2025, after a 5% decline in 2024.
In contrast, amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and rising oil prices, the unit price of US man-made fiber (MMF) apparel imports increased more noticeably by 2.4% in 2025. Still, in absolute terms, the unit price of US MMF apparel at $2.58/SME in 2025 was only about two-thirds of the price of cotton apparel at $3.59/SME.
Additionally, due to weaker demand for relatively more expensive clothing, the unit price of US wool apparel increased from $21.6/SME to only $20.68/SME, or down 4.2%.
Amid higher tariffs, the unit import price for over half of the apparel import categories increased in 2025. Specifically, of the 106 apparel types categorized by OTEXA, 55 types (or 51.9%) saw a price increase between 2024 and 2025. This includes 22 categories (or 20.8%) with a price increase of more than 10%.
Likewise, among the top ten largest apparel import categories by value in 2025, eight (80%) experienced price increases between 2024 and 2025, with an average increase of 2.5%. This result suggests that the upward price pressure was embedded in core, high-volume products rather than niche items.
Particularly, as fashion companies navigate rising tariffs and policy uncertainty through more frequent adjustments to their original shipping schedules, it could increase their production and logistics costs more than usual.
Impact on clothing retail price
While the average U.S. apparel tariff rate rose from 14.7% in December 2024 to 31.5% in December 2025, the average U.S. clothing retail price increased only slightly by 0.3% during that time. This price rise was also much less than the 2.7% increase in the overall U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) during the same period. Since many apparel items are considered discretionary spending, higher inflation may lead consumers to reduce clothing purchases.
Related, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), apparel accounted for 2.08% of U.S. consumers’ total personal spending in 2025, down from 2.10% in 2023 and 2.23% in 2021. As apparel retailers struggled to increase prices, younger generations, such as Gen Z, have turned to the secondhand clothing market.
Additionally, data collected from industry sources show that the average retail price for necessities (e.g., men’s underwear) experienced the highest increase during September 2025 and February 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier (i.e., September 2024 and February 2025). In comparison, discretionary spending items such as women’s swimwear and dresses, as well as products with near-shoring opportunity (i.e., T-shirts), experienced the smallest increase over the same period.
Dr. Sheng Lu is a Professor & Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware. He also served as a consultant for the International Trade Centre (ITC) co-run by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN).
