It’s more than just China that is being affected by Trump’s new proposed tariffs.
Beginning on May 10th, Trump made an upsetting move for many when he instructed the United States to start putting additional tariffs of up to 25% on basically any product that is made for the U.S. by China. This especially caused problems for shoe companies, as China is the United States’ largest shoe producer.
Additionally, footwear brands are already stuck with paying higher duties on all their imports, making the prices for these items already a bit high. If this tariff were to be applied, footwear brands would have no choice but to raise prices of their goods sold (the likely scenario) or to eat the additional cost themselves.
This proposed tariff is reported to be “catastrophic” for American consumers, with the ability to add up to $7 billion in additional costs for consumers. In a big move by 172 companies, a letter was written asking footwear to be removed from the list of Chinese imports that would be hit by the higher tariff.
These companies included Nike, Adidas, Converse, Foot Locker, Sketchers, Dr. Martens, Dr. Scholls, Allen Edmonds, Wolverine Worldwide, and several additional big name brands.
