US shoe companies foot $5bn tariff bill
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) has said the July Consumer Price Index (CPI) underscores continued affordability pressures facing American families during the back-to-school shopping season, as inflation and higher tariffs increase costs across the footwear supply chain.
Consumer prices rose again in July, marking the 64th consecutive month inflation has exceeded the Federal Reserve's 2%target.
Footwear prices increased year-over-year for the eighth straight month, while women's footwear prices posted one of their fastest annual increases in nearly four years.
The latest data reinforces concerns that pricing pressures continue to build throughout the footwear supply chain even as some input costs begin to stabilise.
Matt Priest, CEO of FDRA, said: “Families are already dealing with higher costs for housing, groceries and other necessities, and now they're seeing those pressures when they shop for back-to-school shoes.
"July's numbers show footwear prices continuing to move higher, with somecategories seeing their strongest price increases in years. While footwear companies have worked hard to absorb rising costs, tariffs are making that increasingly difficult.”
While tariffs on consumer goods average just over 2%, footwear tariffs average more than 12%. Tariffs on some children’s shoes can reach nearly 50%, even before additional tariffs are applied. US footwear companies pay more than $5 billion annually in tariffs to the federal government.
