Steve Madden to cut on sourcing goods from China for fear of Trump’s tariffs
The US company is accelerating its plans to move production out of China after Trump’s victory in the country's presidential election increased the likelihood of higher tariffs on imported goods
“We have been planning for a potential scenario in which we would have to move goods out of China more quickly”, Edward Rosenfeld told analysts, after the company reported third quarter results and following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
In February, Trump said that if he came to power, he would reimpose tariffs in China that could exceed 60%. This will put a huge strain on companies that rely heavily on Chinese imports.
“And so, as of yesterday morning, we are putting that plan into motion. And you should expect to see the percentage of goods that we sourced from China to begin to come down more rapidly going forward”.
Steve Madden now aims to reduce goods manufactured in China by approximately 40% to 45% within the next year, up from its prior target of a 10% reduction. To reach this goal, the company has been developing factory bases in other countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Brazil (reuters.com).
According to Bloomberg, several consumer companies in different sectors are already racing to get ahead of potential tariffs and warnings about the impact they could have on the price of everyday products.
Image Credits: stevemadden.com/pages/careers-retail