What to Consider & What’s Being Done

This page provides the latest COVID-19 resources as we  support one another during this pandemic and as we continue to navigate safe-retail, safe business operations and return to work practices, and stimulus support.

AAFA RESOURCES:

• Open-Industry Webinar Recording - COVID-19 Lawsuits: Strategies to Protect Your Business (Hosted January 7) 
• Accessing Face Masks: Your Bulk Purchasing Resource
• AAFA Guidance on Returns, Fitting Rooms, & Items Tried on in Stores During COVID-19
• Supplier Country Lockdown List
• AAFA/WRAP Guidance for the Continued Safe Operation of Factories During COVID-19
• Contact the AAFA team with any questions!

THIRD-PARTY RESOURCES:

• State-by-State Business Reopening Guidance (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
• Real-time COVID-19 tracker, maintained by Johns Hopkins University
• The Rally for Recovery Commitment (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
   

MASK ACCESS: 
AAFA has developed Accessing Face Masks: Your Purchasing Resource, a one-stop resource available on the AAFA website, to pair members who are manufacturing and selling face masks with those seeking purchases. As the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to advise the use of cloth face coverings and most re-opening efforts require masks, there is a substantial demand for face masks for the foreseeable future.

AAFA's PPE RESOURCES:

• International Lab Testing Capability For Personal Protective Equipment
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulatory Guidance During COVID-19
• List of Relevant HTS Codes & Tariff Rates for PPE
•  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Supplier List
• AAFA members taking action, via a combination of donations and PPE production. We are incredibly proud of these AAFA members, making a difference in the community!

THIRD-PARTY RESOURCES:

• COVID-19 Related Products Business Guidance (CPSC)
• PPE Webinar Series (FDA)
• President Biden's January 20 Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing 
• COVID-19 Related Goods: The U.S. Industry, Market, Trade, and Supply Chain Challenges (ITC)

On March 11, President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill into law. AAFA immediately responded with a statement applauding both this stimulus as well as the temporarily extend tariff exclusions for imports of crucial Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and to temporarily lift other punitive tariffs which have been undue taxes on American businesses and consumers.

This is the third stimulus package signed by the U.S., following the $2 trillion CARES Act approved by Congress in March 2020 and the $900 billion in pandemic relief in December 2020. 

We need to sustain the economy with smart health and economic measures until the economy can fully sustain itself. We can all do our part by getting ourselves vaccinated. At the same time, we need to make sure we don’t degrade our economic situation; that means no new tariffs and immediate action to relieve our industry of the crushing tariff burden it is already facing.” - AAFA President and CEO Steve Lamar