Sports clothing manufacturer hopes to benefit from US-China trade dispute
16/08/2018
Taiwanese shoe producers Pou Chen and Feng Tay have steadily reduced the number of shoes they make in China while increasing production in Vietnam, Indonesia and, more recently, India. But they do still produce some shoes (15% and 10% of their total output respectively) in China.
Another Taiwanese company, Eclat Textile, which is an outsource manufacturer of sports clothing, ceased manufacturing in China altogether in 2016.
All of these firms cite increasing labour costs in China as the main reason for moving away. Now that trade tensions are escalating between China and the US, Eclat believes that making none of its clothes in China will give it an advantage.
Eclat has factories in Taiwan and Vietnam in which it makes product for adidas, Lululemon, Nike, Under Armour and JC Penney. It says it has begun to receive enquiries from customers who want to avoid the tariffs the US and China are imposing on a growing list of each other’s products.
In recent comments to the Nikkei Asian Review, Eclat vice-president, Roger Lo, said the trade war could, in time, be beneficial for the company.
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