Cookie banner

This site uses cookies. Select "Block all non-essential cookies" to only allow cookies necessary to display content and enable core site features. Select "Accept all cookies" to also personalize your experience on the site with ads and partner content tailored to your interests, and to allow us to measure the effectiveness of our service.

To learn more, review our Cookie Policy, Privacy Notice and Terms of Use.

or
clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Ivanka Trump Clothing Will Conveniently Be Exempt From New Tariffs

New, 1 comment

How lucky!

Ivanka Trump boarding Marine One on March 29.
Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

President Trump’s proposed $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese products will affect, among others, the robotics, information technology, communications, and aerospace industries. Not included: “domestic consumer goods” such toys and clothing, according to a report from ThinkProgress. This is particularly convenient for Ivanka Trump, whose eponymous clothing brand manufactures in China.

The Washington Post notes that US officials used algorithms to calculate tariffs that would cause the “lowest consumer impact” on the US economy, thus exempting toys and clothing. However, American Apparel CEO Rick Helfenbein said that the new tariffs may end up hurting brands that manufacture within the US by increasing costs on the machinery used to make footwear and clothing.

Despite the fact that she no longer holds her role as a vice president in the Trump Organization, Ivanka Trump still makes $1.5 million per year as an owner of the Trump family business, according to the Huffington Post. That she is also a top White House adviser and, obviously, the president’s daughter has raised plenty of ethical red flags; the exemption from Chinese tariffs is only the most recent example.