Outdoor businesses are running out of wiggle room for tariffs on all types of products, as duty after duty gets added to the cost of doing business with China. Some brands are turning to their last resort – raising prices.
This story by Amelia Arvesen originally appeared in SNews.
“The China tariffs are looking more and more like a giant avalanche that’s trying to bury many outdoor businesses,” said Patricia Rojas-Ungar, vice president of government affairs at Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).
As the trade war with China rages on, new data from OIA reveals that outdoor businesses have paid an additional $2.6 billion in punitive tariffs over the last year, up from $1.3 billion in August to $4.1 billion in September.
Additionally, total tariffs paid by American outdoor businesses in a on imports from China exceeded $1 billion for the first time ever in September.
“The impacts to the outdoor businesses and outdoor experience of Americans is threatened by this U.S.-China trade war,” Rojas-Ungar said. “We strongly encourage the Trump administration to come to a trade deal with China and remove all these punitive tariffs so we can get back to focusing on creating new, innovative products and expanding our workforce.”
The Trump administration has called for tariffs on four different lists of goods.
The third and fourth lists (4A and 4B) impact the outdoor industry the most. A 15 percent tariff on hiking boots, ski jackets, and more (4A) started on Sept. 1. Another 15 percent increase on a new set of outdoor products on list 4B is expected to go into effect on Dec. 15.