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US retailers urge Trump to reconsider tariffs on China
US retailers and clothing manufacturers including Wal-Mart and Nike are raising concerns with President Donald Trump over his pledge to levy tariffs on Chinese imported goods since it will raise consumer prices and hit sales.
Companies including Wal-Mart, Target Corp, Best Buy Co and Macy's sent the US president a letter urging him to cancel the sweeping tariffs on goods imported from China. The letter was organised by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and was signed by 25 retail giants.
American shoemakers including Nike, Genesco, Payless ShoeSource, Under Armour, Shoe Carnival and Weyco sent a second letter expressing the same worries.
These letters come as the White House announced it was preparing tariffs against Chinese technology and consumer products to force changes in their intellectual property and investment practices. The tariffs could raise up to $60bn in products including technological devices, toys and shoes.
"As you continue to investigate harmful technology and intellectual property practices, we ask that any remedy carefully consider the impact on consumer prices," the RILA letter stated.
The retailers argued that these tariffs would hurt American working families that can't afford pricier household basics and the shoemakers said their products already carried big tariffs.
"Adding even more tariffs on top of this heavy burden would mean higher costs for footwear consumers and fewer U.S. jobs. Given the price sensitivity of our products, any additional increases in our costs would strike right at the heart of our ability to keep product competitively priced for our consumers," Nike and co said.