One company is already responding to President-elect Trump’s proposed tariffs, which, if imposed, could result in higher prices for American consumers as retailers pass on additional costs on imports to buyers.
Shoemaker Steve Madden announced plans to import fewer products made in China into the United States and replace them with items made in other countries.
The company said in a conference call with analysts on Thursday that the plan to reduce its dependence on China and diversify its imports had been in the works for some time.
“We’re looking at a potential scenario where we need to move goods out of China more quickly,” CEO Edward Rosenfeld said during Thursday’s conference call. “We have worked hard for several years to expand our factory base and supply capacity to other countries, such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil, etc. »
The company began implementing that plan Wednesday, Rosenfeld said. Currently, more than 70% of Steve Madden’s U.S. imports come from China. Rosenfeld aims to reduce that figure by 40 to 45 percent, down from a target of 10 percent.
Trump has proposed a 60% tax on imports from China, as well as a universal 10-20% tariff on imports from all foreign countries.
If imposed, the proposed tariffs on imports could cause consumers to pay between $6.4 billion and $10.7 billion more for shoes, according to a new analysis from the National Retail Federation. Americans could also lose between $46 billion and $78 billion in purchasing power each year due to tariffs, the organization estimates.
