1. Tariffs Punish the Workers, Not the System
While tariffs may be intended to penalize global overproduction or protect domestic industries, the immediate impact often lands on the most vulnerable: garment workers in countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, where millions rely on factory jobs to support families. These workers didn’t design the global fashion system — they’re surviving within it. Tariffs risk destabilizing their income and security without offering any real alternative.
Slow fashion must challenge exploitation — not shift the pain to those already living on the edge.
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2. Relocating Production Doesn’t Equal Ethical Production
Some argue tariffs could incentivize domestic production in the U.S., imagining a return to local, transparent, ethical fashion. But reshoring doesn’t automatically equal justice. Without labor protections, many “Made in USA” garments are sewn in factories with poor conditions and low pay, especially for immigrant workers. Geographic proximity alone is not a guarantee of fairness.
Ethics isn’t about where clothes are made — it’s about how, by whom, and under what conditions.
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3. Tariffs Threaten the Progress Slow Fashion Has Already Made in the Global South
Brands like Dorsu — and many others — have spent over a decade building equitable, transparent, and dignified garment production in the Global South. We prove that fair, human-centered fashion is possible here. Blanket tariffs risk dismantling this progress by lumping ethical producers in with fast fashion giants, punishing everyone indiscriminately.
Tariffs ignore nuance. And nuance is where real change happens.
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4. A Better Slow Fashion Future Is Global, Not Nationalist
Tariffs are rooted in economic nationalism — a belief that prosperity must be sourced “at home.” But slow fashion, at its best, is about interdependence: mutual respect between maker and wearer, transparency across borders, and economic systems that value people over profit, wherever they live.
A truly sustainable fashion future will be built through global collaboration — not isolation.
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5. The Real Solution? Value, Not Volume
Rather than taxing entire regions, we should focus on the root problem: overproduction and undervaluation of labor. Supporting brands that produce intentionally, pay fairly, and center community impact — whether in New York, Nairobi, or Kampot — is far more effective than blunt policy tools that cause collateral harm.
Slow fashion isn’t slow because it’s local. It’s slow because it’s thoughtful.
