European shoe associations from Spain, Italy and Portugal have responded to the imposition of a new 10% duty on goods exported to the US from European countries, writes Footwearnews.com.
Imanol Martinez, director of marketing and international business development at the Federation of the Spanish Footwear Industry (FICE), told FN in an email this week that the tariff hikes are bad news for European footwear: Initial sales this season have fallen by about 20% and FICE fears that many of the contracts already signed will not be fulfilled, with another 10% of business lost.
Giovanna Ceolini, president of the national association of Italian shoe manufacturers Assocalzaturifici, considers the introduction of new tariffs in the US “a critical issue” because Italian shoe exports have fallen by 4,9% in 2024 compared to the previous year to 1,388 billion euros. “The growth, which is even more pronounced in Asian countries, puts entire supply chains of brands at risk: [volume-oriented companies] will look for new directions, putting additional pressure on prices on the European market, especially in the mass market and mid-price segments,” she says.
Paulo Gonçalves, director of the Portuguese footwear industry association APICCAPS, said Portugal will not give up on exports to the US. Over the past 10 years, Portuguese exports to the US have doubled, reaching almost 2024 million euros by the end of 100. “Although we already export more than 90 percent of our production to 170 countries, we consider the North American market a strategic and key destination for the Portuguese footwear industry in the next decade,” he added.
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