Tariffs put footwear margins and back-to-school demand under pressure, FDRA says

Following the release of the Consumer Price Index for July on Wednesday, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) issued a statement warning that pricing pressures continue to build across the footwear supply chain, affecting American families during the back-to-school shopping season.

“Families are already dealing with higher costs for housing, groceries and other necessities, and now they're seeing those pressures when they shop for back-to-school shoes,” Matt Priest, president and CEO of FDRA, said, adding that July's numbers show footwear prices continuing to move higher, partially because of the Trump administration’s tariff policy.

The FDRA says footwear carries a higher tax burden than most consumer products, with tariffs averaging more than 12 percent, while tariffs on other consumer goods average over 2 percent. According to the organization, tariffs on some children’s shoes can reach 50 percent, even before additional tariffs are applied.

“While footwear companies have worked hard to absorb rising costs, tariffs are making that increasingly difficult. Shoes already face some of the highest tariffs of any consumer product, and additional duties only add pressure to prices at a time when families can least afford it,” Priest said.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a CPI increase of 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in July. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The latest FDRA-AlixPartners Back-to-School Consumer and Executive Footwear Survey, released in July, shows that half of consumers expect footwear prices to rise over the next six months, while one-third plan to purchase fewer pairs than last year.

“Parents can’t tell their kids to stop growing because shoes cost more,” Priest said. “Back-to-school shoes aren’t a luxury purchase. They’re something families have to buy, which is why policies that add unnecessary costs to footwear hit household budgets particularly hard.”

Priest said the data makes it clear that price pressures are still an ongoing issue in the footwear category, and added that “policymakers should be looking for ways to lower costs, not add to them.”