A new survey from The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) released today revealed that tariffs and trade policy are top of mind for U.S. shoe executives in the third quarter.
The FDRA’s Q3 2024 Shoe Executive Business Survey showed that a record-high number of executives have cited governmental actions on tariffs, taxes and trade as their companies most prominent issues likely to define business over the next six months. The data comes as the U.S. gears up for a presidential election in November that will likely have major ramifications for the industry either way.
For example, Donald Trump has said that if he wins the November presidential election, he might impose a 60 percent tariff on all goods imported from China and a general 10 percent tariff on all other imported goods. On the other hand, Kamala Harris’ tariff policies are expected to be a continuation of President Joe Biden’s policies, which includes keeping the burdensome Section 301 rates in place.
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99 percent of the shoes sold in the United States are currently imported from primarily China, Vietnam and Indonesia. With the U.S. footwear industry bringing in 2.5 billion shoes a year, it already pays $4 billion a year in tariffs.
“Our Q3 Shoe Executive Survey reflects both the optimism and the challenges facing the footwear industry,” said FDRA president and chief executive officer Matt Priest in a statement. “With trade policy looming large in a presidential election year and consumer behavior constantly evolving, our members are prepared to navigate these uncertainties. FDRA will continue to provide the tools and insights they need to succeed.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the government, shoe executives were overall positive about the economy and their business health projections over the next six months. More than half of respondents said their business’ sales are higher than six months ago and half said they expects better sales in the next six months. Almost 75 percent of respondents said they expect to see higher comps over the next 12 months.
However, executives were less optimistic when it came to projections for footwear prices, with lower inventories and higher landed costs suggested high retail prices for footwear in the future. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they expect to see higher footwear prices over the next six months, which represents the highest share in the survey in over a year.
