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More than 170 shoe retailers, including Nike, Under Armor, Adidas, Foot Locker, Ugg and Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, have written a letter to the White House asking President Donald Trump to consider suspending the rights increase. customs on shoes imported from China.
This comes after the White House last week released a new list of about $ 300 billion worth of Chinese products that could be hit with 25% tariffs, if Trump decided to go for it. 39 before with his threat. The list includes shoes, sneakers, sandals, golf shoes, rain boots and ski boots.
Shoe distributors and retailers in America, a professional organization in his sector, have estimated that customs duties could cost shoe buyers more than $ 7 billion a year.
The FDRA said that a common type of canvas "skateboard" sneakers, priced at $ 49.99, with a 25% tariff, could reach $ 65.57. The price of a typical hunting boot would rise from $ 190 to $ 248.56. And a popular performance running shoe could go from $ 150 to $ 206.25, FDRA said.
In a letter to Trump on Monday, dozens of retailers asked him to "immediately remove the shoes" from any additional tax requests.
"While US tariffs on all consumer goods average only 1.9%, they rise to 11.3% for shoes and reach rates as high as 67.5%. A 25% increase in the tax added to these rates would mean that some working American families could pay a hundred percent fee on their shoes, "the letter said. "It's unfathomable."
The United States imported $ 11.4 billion worth of shoes from China last year, according to data from the US Census Bureau, making it an incredibly tributary of the country for its hand of Less expensive but qualified work.
Nike, Adidas and Under Armor, among other manufacturers of sports shoes, have gradually reduced their dependence on China, transferring their production to places like Vietnam.
But "the shoe is a capital-intensive industry, requiring years of planning to make procurement decisions, and companies can not just move factories to adapt to these changes" , says the letter to Trump.
Here is the complete letter.
Dear Mr. Chairman:
As the leading American companies of shoes, brands and retailers, counting hundreds of thousands of US employees, we are writing to ask you to immediately remove the shoes from the last list under the title. Article 301 issued by the US Trade Representative on May 13, 2019. An additional 25% tariff on footwear would be catastrophic for our consumers, our businesses and the US economy as a whole.
There should be no misunderstanding that US consumers pay customs duties on imported products. As the industry faces a $ 3 billion customs bill each year, we can assure you that any increase in the cost of importing shoes has a direct impact on the US consumer of shoes. It is an inevitable fact that when prices rise at the border because of transportation costs, rising labor rates or additional duties, the consumer pays more for the product.
This significant tax increase, in the form of tariffs, would have an impact on all types of footwear and all segments of our society. In fact, the professional association of our industry, Shoe Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), has posted the numbers and the results are staggering. FDRA estimates that the measures you are proposing will result in additional costs of $ 7 billion for our customers each year. This dramatic increase would add to the billions that Americans are already paying because of the current tariff burden on footwear imports since 1930.
High tariff rates on shoes weigh disproportionately on individuals and families of the working class. While US tariffs on all consumer goods average only 1.9%, they average 11.3% for footwear and reach rates as high as 67.5%. Adding a 25% tax increase to these rates would mean that some working American families could pay a tariff of almost 100% on their shoes. It's unfathomable.
Some suggested that industries should quickly move their purchases to countries other than China as a result of these new tariff threats. Although our industry has been moving away from China for some time now, footwear is a capital-intensive industry, which requires years of planning to make procurement decisions, and companies simply can not move their plants to adjust to these changes. Any action taken to increase rights on Chinese shoes will have an immediate and lasting effect on US individuals and families. It will also threaten the economic viability of many businesses in our industry.
On behalf of our hundreds of millions of footwear consumers and hundreds of thousands of employees, we urge you to immediately stop this action in order to increase their tax burden. Your proposal to add tariffs on all imports from China requires the US consumer to pay the bill. It is time to end this trade war.
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