Trade groups: Tariffs will make sneakers, clothes that Americans wear cost more

NEW YORK (AP) — Sending children back to school in new sneakers, jeans, and T-shirts is likely to cost US families significantly more this fall if the bespoke tariffs President Donald Trump put on leading exporters take effect as planned, American industry groups warn.

- 

About 97 percent of the clothes and shoes purchased in the US are imported, predominantly from Asia, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said, citing its most recent data. Walmart, Gap Inc., Lululemon, and Nike are a few of the companies that have a majority of their clothing made in Asian countries.

Those same garment-making hubs took a big hit under the president’s plan to punish individual countries for trade imbalances. He set the import tax rates for at least 54 percent.

He set the import tax rates for Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia at 46 percent and 49 percent, and products from Bangladesh and Indonesia at 37 percent and 32 percent.

Working with foreign factories has kept labor costs down for US companies in the fashion trade, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb new costs that high. India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka also got slapped with high tariffs so aren’t immediate sourcing alternatives.

"If these tariffs are allowed to persist, ultimately it’s going to make its way to the consumer," said Steve Lamar, President and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association.