Companies seek to mitigate China tariffs' impact: FDRA CEO Matt Priest
Companies are looking for ways to mitigate the impact of President Trump’s China tariffs, according to Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) CEO Matt Priest.
“Companies are continuing to look for ways to mitigate this impact,” Priest told FOX Business’ Liz Claman on “The Claman Countdown.” “So that might mean moving production out of China, which it seems the administration wants American companies to do and we’ve been doing that for quite some time.”
Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. is going to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. After the announcement, China threatened to take countermeasures if the U.S. followed through with the new tariffs.
Trump insists that the American people aren’t paying for his tariffs and that the Chinese are the ones feeling the pain.
“The administration seems so intent on describing this as something the Chinese pay and you can’t find an economist anywhere outside of Peter Navarro that will tell you that’s the case,” Priest said.
Priest says Trump’s new tariff will raise the average import duty on shoes across the board.
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“The average import duty on a pair of shoes from China is 11 percent. This would ultimately double that average,” he said. “Our hope is that the American people, the American public, understands that as prices go up at the border, these taxes are paid by American companies, which ultimately impact the costs our American consumers pay when they buy these shoes.”