The Sports & Fitness Industry Association issued a statement Tuesday afternoon after President Trump announced a plan to impose up to 25 percent tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese-made goods. This action will impact nearly all athletic footwear, apparel, and sports and fitness equipment imported into the U.S. from China.
“This is something we have feared,” said SFIA President & CEO, Tom Cove. “While there have been threats around these tariffs for many years, this action is the farthest-reaching and most damaging trade policy our industry and our customers have ever faced. We still hope the Chinese and American governments can come to an agreement before the tariffs go into effect, as these new tariffs will be potentially-destructive to many industry companies who cannot move manufacturing processes out of China in such a short period of time.”
SFIA said it will work with companies to navigate the process to exempt products from these new tariffs. Comments will be accepted up until June 10 and public hearings on the tariffs will be held on June 17, with tariffs potentially going into effect as early as June 24. SFIA will be sharing additional information on the exemption process as it becomes available. For information on SFIA’s exemption effort, please contact Chandler Hoffman, at choffman@sfia.org.
