The letter from the footwear industry acknowledged one piece of advice often given to companies facing tariff pressure: just move. Companies have already started moving to other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam where Adidas has up to 44% of its shoe production. Nike’s China operation has slowed down in recent years with the country making 32% of the company’s shoes in 2012 down to 19% in 2017, according to GQ.
But avoiding tariffs isn’t as simple as just continuing down this road, the letter said.