US shoe brands terrified by Trump's tariffs

Vans, the 52-year-old brand best known for its unpretentious sneaker, is in tears. Vans' annual business figure exceeded $ 3 billion last year ($ 4.4 billion), nearly 10 times more than a decade earlier, thanks in part to manufacturing cheap and abundant in Asia

. . Ninety-eight per cent of the shoes are manufactured abroad, of which nearly three quarters come from China, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, which makes the shoe the only one of its kind. one of the most imported products. The shoes are not on the list of goods expected by the latest series of tariffs, but the industry is in a state of alert after President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was ready to expand the tariffs to 500 billion US dollars. "I'm ready to go to 500," he told CNBC

"We would be asleep if we were not worried about it," Scott A. Roe, chief financial officer of VF Corp., said Vans' parent company, as well as a dozen other brands, including Timberland, Reef and North Face, said in an appeal Friday. "We are watching this very carefully."

Earlier this month, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese imports of $ 34 billion, including cars and industrial machinery. Shortly after, President Trump said he would continue to apply additional tariffs for $ 200 billion of additional Chinese products.

Shoe manufacturers rely heavily on Chinese products, despite efforts to transfer them to Vietnam and Cambodia. in recent years. Last year, the United States imported $ 14.8 billion worth of shoes from China, making the shoe the fifth largest category of Chinese imports, according to an analysis of census data from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. (Other imports: cell phones, $ 84 billion, computers, $ 67 billion, toys, $ 28 billion and furniture and bedding, $ 27 billion).

The footwear industry already pays nearly $ 3 billion a year, largely since the 1930 legislation that was intended to protect American manufacturing during the Great Depression. Canvas shoes, such as those sold by Vans, have particularly high prices – 68.5% depending on the industry group.

"Shoe prices tend to be among the most regressive," said Nate Herman, vice president of supply chain at the American Apparel & Footwear Association. "The cheapest shoes – the children's sneakers you'll find at Walmart – have the highest prices, while the high-end men's leather sneakers are much less taxed" (19659002). For this contradiction: When prices were negotiated in the last century, Converse, then one of the major US manufacturers, lobbied to impose the highest tariffs on competing cloth shoes, Herman added. Nike, Saucony and Under Armor wrote a letter to President Trump earlier this year, arguing against more shoe prices. "Adding even more tariffs to this heavy burden would result in higher costs for shoe consumers and fewer jobs in the United States," the letter says. "Any measure taken to increase rights on Chinese shoes will have an immediate and lasting effect on American individuals and families."

Even if shoe imports escape additional rates, analysts believe that uncertainty could continue to weigh on a growing industry in recent years. According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, spending on shoes only increased by 1% last year to reach 80.2 billion US dollars. "All of this is intertwined: even though we do not appear on any price list, we are" Matt Priest, President of Shoe Distributors and Retailers of America

That could be bad news for brands like Vans , who reinvented themselves after filing for bankruptcy in the 1980s. The company's executives would not disclose the percentage of its shoes made in China, but said that Vans possessed "a very diverse supply chain

Vans was born in 1966 as a Californian manufacturer and employees made rubber-soled shoes every morning and sold them directly to the Anaheim factory in the after-hours. But in the late 1990s, Vans closed its plants in California and moved all of its production to Asia, partly to compete with cheap rivals.

Today, Lysts say that Vans' casual style and low prices of US $ 50 – distinguish it from competitors like Nike and Adidas. In recent years, the company has also partnered with a number of associates, ranging from A Tribe Called Quest to Marvel Comics, helping to increase sales through exclusive partnerships and limited time offers [19659002]. quarter, making Vans one of the fastest growing shoe brands in the country. His canvas shoes – once popular especially among surfers and skaters – have attracted a wide audience in recent years. Among his fans: celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Frank Ocean (who wore them to the White House for a state dinner).

A rise in consumer streetwear also helped revive the brand, said Jane Hali, an analyst at Jane Hali & Associates in Boca Raton, Florida. Americans are increasingly looking for comfortable yet casual but unique shoes, she said, helping to boost Vans, as well as rivals like Supreme, who sold a Carlyle Group stake in the year. last. , largely on the back of cheap manufacturing in Asia. Photo / Bloomberg. "src =" data: image / png; base64, R0lGODlhAQABAPAAAOrq6v /// yH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw == "data-srcset =" // www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/dAS17q3DioiHbaDmnZN3dJfJPNY=/320×213/smart/filters:quality(70) /arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IWIQB2TSDRDBREEDS3BN2PPKO4.jpg 320w, // www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/U9XwcKlS_kEKPMkaDgUKENAMv1I=/375×250/smart/filters:quality(70)/ arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IWIQB2TSDRDBREEDS3BN2PPKO4.jpg 375w, // www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/mXbjICzIjBxYxSVdqH4HuT2XNyM=/620×413/smart/filters:quality(70)/arc -anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IWIQB2TSDRDBREEDS3BN2PPKO4.jpg 620w "/>