170 shoe retailers urge Trump to not move forward with footwear tariffs against China

More than 170 shoe retailers, including Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, Foot Locker, and Ugg, have published a letter urging president Donald Trump to reconsider raising tariffs on footwear imported from China.

“As an industry that faces a $3 billion duty bill every year, we can assure you that any increase in the cost of importing shoes has a direct impact on the American footwear consumer”, read the letter. “It is an unavoidable fact that, as prices go up at the border due to transportation costs, labor rate increases or additional duties, the consumer pays more for the product”.

The White House released a new list of Chinese goods which would receive a 25 percent increase in duties, in case Trump decides to move forward with his threats against China. The list includes several types of footwear. The trade organization Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America estimated the tariffs to cost American consumers more than 7 billion US dollars annually. Each family would have to spend an extra 131.93 dollars each year on footwear.