Your Looks and Stomach Are Taking a Hit from Trump Tariffs

The tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump will not only increase the prices of mobile phones and other Apple products. Sports shoes, clothing, and even Swiss-made chocolate are also bracing for "price hikes."

Like the Vomero 18 running shoes with thick soles displayed at a Nike store in New York, United States. Currently, the shoes are still priced at 150 US dollars or approximately Rp 2.5 million.

In the near future, its price will inevitably increase. Yet, the shoes labeled "Made in Vietnam" are currently being relied upon to regain the attention of runners who have switched to wearing other brands.

The Financial Times daily, Sunday (6/4/2025), said that because it was made in Vietnam, the price of the shoes would inevitably soar. In fact, Nike chose to produce in Vietnam in 1995 because production costs could be lower with cheaper labor.

Vietnam, which has long been a global hub for athletic shoe manufacturing, has become the target of some of the heaviest tariffs imposed by Trump. According to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, Trump's new tariffs of 46 percent will be applied on top of the existing 20 percent import duty already imposed on U.S. athletic shoe imports.

Nike is one of the first foreign investors in Vietnam and has contributed to its exports and economic growth. The company successfully expanded its supplier base rapidly and created thousands of jobs.

Nike has 130 supplier factories in Vietnam that produce shoes, clothing, and equipment. Vietnam contributes to half of Nike's footwear production. Meanwhile, its German competitor, Adidas, sources 39 percent of its shoes from Vietnam.

Manufacturers may consider opening sports shoe factories in new countries. However, relocating the footwear supply chain requires at least two years. Companies typically plan such changes within a five-year cycle. Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, and Egypt could serve as alternative manufacturing hubs. However, it takes 18-24 months to finalize order contracts with suppliers.

Moreover, Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs with a minimum rate of 10 percent on almost every trading partner. For major footwear hubs like China and Indonesia, Trump implemented new tariffs that were more than tripled. "Finding a cheaper market on Planet Earth will be difficult," said David Marcotte, Vice President of Retail at the consultancy firm Kantar.

Like Nike, Adidas and Puma, another German brand, will raise its U.S. prices by about 20 percent to maintain its gross profit margins after the new tariffs.

Adidas and Puma could fare better than Nike, said Metzler Bank analyst Felix Dennl, because they sell less in the U.S. Adidas may also be better positioned because it plays more in the lifestyle segment.

Meanwhile, Puma will have difficulty raising prices because it failed to change its image as a premium shoemaker. Puma is considered to have failed to gain momentum. Even so, Puma will try a production strategy in several countries and increase long-term partners in the supplier base.

“Sporting goods manufacturers will curtail their products in the U.S. and discontinue less profitable products,” Dennl said.

Vietnam received a new wave of manufacturing investment during Trump's first term (2017-2021). At that time, the US began to engage in a trade war with China. This caused many companies to shift production from China. Suppliers for footwear manufacturers in Vietnam are not only local companies, but also South Korean and Taiwanese groups operating there.

The migration to Vietnam caused its trade surplus with the U.S. to swell to $123.5 billion last year. Adam Cochrane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said the sneaker brand may have to cut back on orders and shift more of its production to Europe, the Middle East and China.

As Easter approaches, Swiss chocolate may be feeling a little more bittersweet, especially on the price side. Not just because of high cocoa prices but also because of new U.S. import tariffs. Many Swiss, from the government to chocolate makers, are feeling the shock of U.S. tariffs.

The US has imposed a very high tariff of 31 percent on Swiss goods, much higher than the previous 20 percent tariff imposed on exports from the EU. This is feared to affect other important Swiss industries such as watches, coffee and cheese.

The US is Switzerland’s second-largest trading partner after the EU. US-Swiss trade in goods and services has quadrupled over the past 20 years. The Swiss government has also eliminated all industrial tariffs as of January 1, 2024. This means that 99 percent of all goods from the US can be imported into Switzerland duty-free.

Julie Jammes, Marketing Manager of Canonica, a Swiss chocolate maker with three stores in San Francisco, hopes that U.S. customers will remain loyal. However, she understands that consumers will stop buying chocolate if the price is too high. "I put myself in the consumer's shoes. If it's too high, people won't buy it," she said.

Swiss chocolate industry association Chocosuisse is disappointed with Trump's tariffs. However, they are optimistic that they can still rely on the domestic market. After all, Switzerland is one of the world's largest consumers of chocolate, consuming about 10 kilograms per person per year. Philippe Pascoet, a Geneva-based chocolatier, lamented the sharp rise in cocoa prices over the past six months. He said the U.S. market has always been difficult for smaller producers.

“Sending chocolate to America has always been difficult and the reason is simply because of sanitation. They want to control what is imported into their country. So even people who usually order chocolate from us online often find their chocolate blocked at customs,” Pascoet said.

Unlike other businesses that are struggling with Trump’s tariffs, slow fashion may actually benefit from Trump’s tariffs. Slow fashion is a retail movement and approach that emphasizes quality, sustainability, and longevity of fashion products. Slow fashion has been losing out to fast fashion, which emphasizes quantity over quality.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation once projected that clothing production would reach 160 million tons by 2050. This figure is a three-fold increase from 2017. Meanwhile, more than 40 percent of Gen Z consumers shop at companies like Shein, Temu, and Tiktok Shop that prioritize low production costs and fast delivery. They dominate the market with cheap goods that are not always durable.

However, according to Time magazine, Monday (7/4/2025), the fast fashion industry is now being hit hard by Trump's reciprocal tariffs which add an additional import levy of 34 percent on Chinese goods. This figure is higher than the previous levy, 20 percent.

In addition to the tariffs, the fast fashion industry has been hit by the elimination of “de minimis duty exemptions” for goods from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. This closed a customs loophole that allowed Shein and Temu to ship millions of packages a day to the U.S. duty-free.

“De minimis duty exemption” exempts small packages worth US$800 or less that are shipped directly to consumers from customs duties. This duty exemption has been used on a large scale in recent years. The number of small duty-free shipments from China increased by 1,145 percent from 2018 to 2023.

Slow fashion has been relatively free from Trump’s tariffs because it doesn’t rely on global supply chains to source products. Alon Rotem, chief strategy officer and general counsel at California-based resale company ThredUp, which sells secondhand clothing and accessories, said ThredUp’s supply chain, or the clothes it resells on ThredUp, come from American closets.

In contrast, shares of most retail companies plunged after Trump announced that China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Bangladesh would be hit with high tariffs. These countries have long been the main production centers of the fast fashion industry.

Meanwhile, ThredUp shares have been up slightly since April 2. This kind of increase is rare. ThredUp CEO James Reinhart said that the closing of the de minimis duty exemption for China was long overdue. The de minimis loophole has benefited fast fashion and this is unfair. Because, it allows fast fashion to flood the market with cheap, short-lived goods and avoid tariffs.

“We consider this policy a win for the environment and the future of sustainable fashion,” Reinhart said.