173 footwear companies join campaign against tariff rises
21/05/2019
As reported last week, President Trump raised the tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports to 25% after being frustrated with trade talks, and threatened to expand this to all goods imported from the country.
“The proposed additional tariff of 25% on footwear would be catastrophic for our consumers, our companies and the American economy as a whole,” said the companies in the letter.
“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. It is an unavoidable fact that as prices go up at the border due to transportation costs, labour rate increases, or additional duties, the consumer pays more for the product.
“This significant tax increase, in the form of tariffs, would impact every type of shoe and every single segment of our society. In fact, our industry’s trade association, the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA), ran the numbers and the results are staggering. FDRA estimates your proposed actions will add $7 billion in additional costs for our customers, every single year.
“This dramatic increase would be on top of the billions Americans already pay as a result of the current tariff burden on footwear imports that was started in 1930. High footwear tariff rates fall disproportionately on working class individuals and families. While U.S. tariffs on all consumer goods average just 1.9%, they average 11.3% for footwear and reach rates as high as 67.5%. Adding a 25% tax increase on top of these tariffs would mean some working American families could pay a nearly 100% duty on their shoes. This is unfathomable.”
They added that footwear is a very capital-intensive industry and so it would be difficult to simply shift sourcing to from countries.”
“On behalf of our hundreds of millions of footwear consumers and hundreds of thousands of employees, we ask that you immediately stop this action to increase their tax burden. Your proposal to add tariffs on all imports from China is asking the American consumer to foot the bill. It is time to bring this trade war to an end.”
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