Trainer prices are set to rise by around 10% as brands like Nike and Adidas attempt to offset the cost of President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ trade tariffs. The footwear industry is primarily located in Asia, with Indonesia, Vietnam, and China being the world’s leading production bases for sports shoes, leaving big brand companies such as Adidas, Nike, and Puma affected by these new tariff plans.
Vietnam, where most of the viral Adidas Sambas are manufactured, was hit with a 46% tariff rate on imported goods. The country produces 39% of Adidas’s footwear and 18% of its apparel. The Vietnam Briefing found that in 2022, Adidas had 21 factories producing footwear with 114,233 workers.
Also taking a hit are Nike, creators of the infamous Air Jordan and Air Force 1’s, as 50% of all the brands shoes are made in Vietnam, and over three decades since 1995 Vietnam has become the trainer capital. The 26% tariff is already on top of the 20% levy that is on athletic shoes, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as reported by the Financial Times.
A spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium told The i Paper these footwear giants might “try and cross subsidise”. He said: “It might push up prices everywhere a bit, and there will be a sort of global inflationary effect. Doing that would be a way to try and offset some of the price rises in the US.”
A pair of Adidas Originals Sambas currently costs £70 but could rise to more than £100, similarly with Nike’s classic Air Jordan Hi-Tops which could rise from £180 to more than £200. The Mirror as reached out to Nike and Adidas for comment, with Adidas not willing to comment yet on this situation.
On April 2, Trump announced that there would be a “baseline” levy of 10% imposed on all goods on all countries selling to the US. Not only that, but there would be an “individualized reciprocal” tariff applied to countries where the US buys more from them than the other way around. This means that there will be an additional fee which is based off the level of imports from each country.
The UK managed to escape the “individualized reciprocal” tariff, but the nation was still hit with at a 10% levy for imported goods from the US. This is due to negotiations between the President and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
China was hit the hardest with a now 104% tax on imported goods into the US. This comes after Trump last week announced a tariff of 34% on the capital of China, Beijing, on top of the 20% he imposed on the country earlier this year. Since then, he has added a 50% levy on Chinese goods in response to their retaliation.
China is the world’s second-largest economy and has now hit back at the US president. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news conference: The U.S. continues to abuse tariffs to pressure China, China firmly opposes this and will never accept this kind of bullying.
The Chinese Commerce Minister said yesterday April 8 that the US’s demands on tariffs from China are “completely groundless and a typical unilateral bullying practice. “The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the ministry said.
“The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” they added.
Additionally, Trump also imposed a tax of 47% on imports from Madagascar, 32% on Taiwan, 25% on South Korea, 24% on Japan and 20% on the European Union. Canada says it’s implementing retaliatory tariffs of its own just following Trump’s tariffs.
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