Steve Madden Plans Holiday Price Hike in Face of Higher Tariffs
Steve Madden Plans Holiday Price Hike in Face of Higher Tariffs
(Bloomberg) -- The trade war between the U.S. and China is already taking a toll on the next holiday season.
Footwear and handbag maker Steve Madden, which sourced more than 90% of its products in China last year, says the higher levies on its goods will trickle down to shoppers during the holidays.
“Unfortunately, we will be forced to raise prices to the consumer,” Chief Executive Officer Edward Rosenfeld said Monday in emailed comments.
Last week, the U.S. proposed 25% tariffs on an additional $300 billion of goods from China, and this time the list includes page after page of apparel and footwear. Steve Madden was among 173 shoemakers and retailers that signed an open letter, dated Monday, to U.S. President Donald Trump asking him to remove footwear from the list, saying it would be “catastrophic” for consumers.
Steve Madden has been shifting some of its supply chain out of China and into countries including Cambodia, Mexico, India and Brazil, but the bulk of it remains in China. To offset the impact, the company is increasing some inventories now.
“We are looking to accelerate delivery on some of our products in order to bring the goods in ahead” of any new tariffs, Rosenfeld said.
While he said the tensions haven’t crimped any of Steve Madden’s investment plans, “the uncertainty created by the trade war has made it very difficult to plan our business.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Wolfson in Boston at lwolfson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder
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