On Wednesday, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) sent a letter to the Trump Administration requesting that it not impose additional footwear tariffs on top of the existing ones ahead of the critical back-to-school selling season.
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The letter warns that these tariffs disproportionately impact working families, especially when it comes to children’s shoes, which can face rates as high as 20 percent to 48 percent or more.
The letter reads in part, “While the President announced a new 20 percent added tariff on Vietnamese-made products, many children’s shoes from Vietnam already have a 20 percent tariff. This raises the important question ahead of back-to-school shopping: Why should footwear companies and American families pay an additional 20 percent if they already pay 20 percent?,
“Kids’ shoes are not the type of footwear made in the U.S., like high-end leather shoes or military boots. As we highlighted in a May 29th letter to President Trump, joined by several trade associations, we strongly support the President’s comments indicating that his tariff policy is not focused on driving sneaker and T-shirt production to the U.S. We agree that tariff policy alone cannot scale up a domestic footwear and apparel industry. In addition, footwear is not an industry that is strategic to national security priorities.”