Sports shoes’ supply chain is pain point in Trump’s tariff war – Financial Times
That last fact is a big problem for Nike’s plans for a turnaround under chief executive Elliott Hill, who this year launched the Vomero 18 to win back runners who have switched to other brands. Vietnam has become the global centre of athletic shoe manufacturing — and it is subject to some of the most punishing US tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump this week.
Trump has said he wants to bring manufacturing back to US shores. Analysts say the more likely effect will be higher prices for trainers, as the US lacks factories with the specialised equipment to make running shoes and workers with the knowhow to operate them.
US-based Nike began manufacturing in Vietnam in 1995, through five contract footwear factories, becoming one of the country’s earliest foreign investors and contributing to its exports and economic growth. The company expanded its supplier base rapidly in the following years and created thousands of jobs, attracted by the cheaper labour force.
Nike now has 130 supplier-factories in Vietnam producing shoes, clothing and equipment, and the country accounts for half of its footwear production.
Adidas, its Germany-based rival, gets 39 per cent of its shoes from the south-east Asian country.
Trump’s new 46 per cent tariff will be layered on top of 20 per cent duties already paid on US imports of athletic shoes with textile uppers, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association.
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