173 Shoe Companies Wrote To Trump: Adding Tariffs Is A Disaster.

Last week, the office of the United States trade representative issued a list of products valued at about $300 billion, of which almost all types of footwear, from sports shoes to sandals, were subject to higher tariffs.

In May 20th, 173 American companies including Nike, Adidas and other footwear giants jointly signed an open letter to President Trump, hoping that the president could change his mind.

At the same time, the open letter will also be sent to the Minister of finance Mnuchin, Minister of Commerce Ross, and Kudelo, director of the State Economic Commission, and will also be posted on the website of the trade association.

The joint letter hopes President Trump will reconsider tariffs on Chinese made footwear, and point out that the effect of tariff increases is "disastrous" to consumers, companies or even the entire US economy.

The joint letter wrote: "we are here to represent hundreds of millions of footwear consumers and hundreds of thousands of employees requesting an immediate stop to impose tariffs and lighten our tax burden.

As an industry that pays us $3 billion a year, we can guarantee that any increase in the cost of any imported shoes will have a direct impact on us footwear consumers. The proposed tariff increases by the president actually require American consumers to pay the bill. Now is the time to end the trade friction. "

The call to stop tariffs has been responded to in almost all sectors.

Earlier, including the National Federation of retailers, the information technology industry association, the chemical Commission, the soybean association and many other trade associations, they expressed their opposition to the US government's tariff increase.

"After the tariff rises, we do not have enough profit space to cushion the increased tax revenue. The only way is to pass on to consumers," said Jepson, President of global operations at Wolfgang Flynn group (MichaelJeppesen).

The American footwear industry association, American shoe distributors and major retailers estimate that the increased tariffs will make us users spend an extra $7 billion a year.

These increased spending will affect consumers in varying degrees.

Footwear industry is particularly sensitive to changes in tariffs, because footwear manufacturers in the United States have already assumed heavy tariffs - some long-term tariffs even exceed 30%.

The footwear industry has shifted mass production activities to Vietnam - looking forward to reducing tariffs on export tariffs through the p Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).

But Trump withdrew from TPP and was deeply disappointed by the decision of the footwear manufacturer.

The companies in the joint letter have different degrees of dependence on the Chinese market.

For example, in fiscal year 2018, Nike made 26% of its clothing and footwear in China, and UnderArmour now has nearly 18% of its products in China, while Cage in China produces nearly 65% products, though not all products are exported to the United States.