Sneaker designers, retailers and collectors brace for Trump's tariffs

Small sneaker makers and huge companies like Nike face challenges from tariffs, as many sneakers are made in China, Vietnam and Taiwan, which have been hit with tariffs on goods sent to the United States.

Devlin Carter created his luxury sneaker company, SIA Collective, six years ago and built it into a multimillion-dollar brand by providing fashionable, high-quality footwear manufactured mostly in China. But the Trump administration’s tariffs have raised the cost of importing goods from many countries, including China, to the United States. 

And Carter is incensed. 

“These are ridiculous tariffs that make no sense,” Carter said. “Small businesses like mine have to pay these tariffs, and it’s not a small thing. It’s a lot. So there’s no way to see this as something that’s good — for anybody.” 

The sneaker industry is a $70 billion-a-year enterprise. And with almost no sneakers manufactured in America, the latest tariffs Trump has imposed have the industry — and the global economy — reeling, generating a ripple effect that puts the future of many small sneaker companies in jeopardy, Carter said. 

“And it’s all unnecessary,” he said. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/sneaker-companies-tariffs-china-vietnam-taiwan-rcna200104

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