"Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard", 9 July 2025

The U.S.’ decision to impose a 40 percent tariff on goods from Myanmar will deal a fresh blow to the country’s apparel industry that employs nearly 800,000 workers...

“If the U.S. actually enforces these tariffs, the garment industry will feel the impact, but shoe and bag manufacturing will suffer even more,” a factory owner in Yangon told The Irrawaddy. “They previously enjoyed full tariff exemptions, so a 40 percent tariff will drive orders down almost immediately.”...

The United States is currently the fourth-largest export market for Myanmar’s cut-make-pack (CMP) industries, which include garment, bag, and shoe manufacturing. The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) has warned that the new tariffs will likely dampen trade and further strain an already struggling economy.

“Orders from the U.S. and Japan have been rising and American orders were better than before the pandemic,” said one CMP business owner. “But orders from the EU have declined. So if U.S. tariffs go up, we will definitely be hit.”

Prior to this decision, U.S. tariffs on Myanmar garment imports averaged around 20 percent, he said.

Myanmar’s CMP sector is already grappling with numerous challenges, including international sanctions following the 2021 military coup, power outages, fuel shortages, and strict foreign currency controls that require export earnings to be converted at a fixed rate way below the market rate...

While Myanmar is not a major trade partner for the U.S., with bilateral trade valued at well below $ 1 billion, the tariff hike can have a severe impact on individual exporters, he said...