New steep prices in the United States on imports are clip hiking price For customers. Not the Keen shoe company.
Although the intermediate company, based in Portland, in Oregon, operates in an industry very exposed to prices, Keen tells customers that she will maintain stable prices this year, regardless of how the prices affect its costs. This is not an inactive commitment calculated to preserve the market share – Keen has regularly revived the company for years to protect himself from sudden changes in world trade and whims of geopolitics.
“We are preparing for more than a decade. At the beginning, we saw the risks of being too dependent in a country, so we made the decision to diversify our supply chain far beyond China,” said Hari Perumal operations director at CBS Moneywatch.
The 22 -year -old company, with 650 American employees and owned by the FUERST Group brand design and management company, worked to reduce its dependence on Chinese manufacturing while expanding its American presence and diversifying its supply chains.
President Trump's prices overthrow the retailers' supply chains, forcing them to design bypass solutions. This can mean moving manufacturing in another foreign country with lower prices or investing in production based in the United States. For small businesses, Uncertainty focused on prices can mean close the operations When finances no longer add up.
The prices of shoes and clothes could skyrocket
Shoe companies are particularly vulnerable to the upheavals caused by the trade war of President Trump given their dependence on China, where 36%, or 9.8 billion dollars, imported shoes sold in the United States are carried out, according to an international trade data analysis.
For this reason, the prices should hit hard and clothing companies hard, and this impact will also be felt by American consumers, according to Jason Judd, global expert of the supply chain and executive director of the World Work Institute of Cornell.
In 2023, American households spent an average of $ 1,700 a year on shoes and clothing, Judd said. It expects this figure to increase by 70% in the short term, to $ 2,800 per family, due to price increases linked to prices. In the years to come, consumers are always likely to pay more for shoes and clothes due to higher world rates.
“This pain will decrease as the terms and supply models change, but the longer -term costs per family will always be an increase of $ 425 per year.”
