Courtesy Seth McConnell | SETH MCCONNELL
The ongoing tariff war is riling the outdoor industry, with gear makers and brands deploying a variety of strategies to handle the Trump administration’s plan to raise tariffs on more than $200 billion worth of Chinese-made products to 25% from 10%.
The additional tariffs on things like backpacks, sports bags, ski gloves, kayaks, bikes, camp chairs and camp stoves “will further raise costs for outdoor manufacturers, suppliers and retailers and cut into already thin profit margins,” reads a letter the Outdoor Industry Association sent to President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Outdoor gear makers large and small are preparing to absorb a financial hit on their China-made products arriving stateside this summer, most of which are already sold to retailers ready to stock shelves for this fall.
Many brands are accelerating a long-planned shift out of China as production costs in the maturing country rise and Trump tinkers with tariffs as a tool to protect U.S. intellectual property interests.
If the Trump threats reach fruition, manufacturers will spike costs for 2020 products as much as 15 percent.
Right now they are galvanized in lobbying the White House to consider the impact on small outdoor businesses and the rural communities where those businesses are often based when waging an economic battle with the world’s manufacturing powerhouse.
Here’s a quick look at what four Colorado outdoor gear companies are doing as the tariff war escalates:
Read more via The Colorado Sun at: https://t.co/ifruLq4Y9x