Trump prices on Vietnam could increase the prices of shoes, furniture, toys

The retailers and the brands turned to Vietnam to make goods, sneakers to the sofas while moving part or all the production of China.

For years, the neighbor in southern China has become a popular alternative for companies trying to avoid the cross fires of American trade tensions with Beijing. Now, while President Donald Trump extends his tariff objectives, they can no longer avoid clearly.

Trump said that he would put a 46% right on imports from Vietnam as part of a new wave of global samples announced on Wednesday. This could soon increase costs for large companies in clothing, furniture and toy space, and some of them can transmit these increases to consumers in the form of price increases. Vietnam prices take effect on April 9.

China has exported more goods in the United States than any other country for more than two decades, but Mexico has exceeded China as the main source in 2023. China is now the second supplier of the United States, representing $ 438.9 billion in goods in 2024, according to data from the government of the American commercial representative office.

For companies that have sought to diversify the countries on which they count for production and reduce the risks of commercial conflicts with China, Vietnam has also become a popular place. Vietnam imports increased to $ 136.6 billion in 2024, up approximately 19% compared to 2023, according to the office of the US trade representative.

On the other hand, imports from China increased only 2.8% from 2023 to 2024, according to government data. Imports from China dropped approximately 18% last year compared to 2022 when the United States reported $ 536.3 billion in the country.

Tasks will hit companies at a time when many consumers have become concerned with value and selective on expenses due to persistent inflation and concerns about the economy. Although it is not clear now which companies will increase prices due to prices, companies can hesitate to assume higher costs because they provide for dull expenses in the coming months.

Some household names will feel the pinch of Vietnam’s prices. Nike Manufacturers about half of his shoes in China and Vietnam, with around 25% from Vietnam. Trump will put a rate of 34% in addition to the existing rights of 20% on imports from China, for an apparent rate of 54%, said a White House official in CNBC.

The prices would still be another headwind for the sneaker giant and athletics clothes, which has already offered a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. This orientation, which projects a decrease in two -digit sales during the three -month period, included the estimated impact of prices on imports from China and Mexico.

The widened prices could block or slow down Nike’s efforts to rekindle its brand and improve sales under its new CEO Elliott Hill, a veteran of the company that took the bar last fall.

Nike’s shares fell by more than 6% in prolonged exchanges on Wednesday. Adidas And other major shoe players also count strongly on Vietnam.

The two companies did not immediately respond to the request for CNBC comments.

In the United States, nearly a third of shoe imports came from Vietnam in 2023, the most recent data of the full year available, according to shoe distributors and America’s retailers, a commercial group of the industry.

Steve Madden, for example, said at the beginning of November in early November that he would reduce his imports to the United States from 45% in the next year. The shoe manufacturer made this announcement only a few days after Trump’s presidential victory, following his campaign campaign promises to impose steep prices on countries like China.

However, one of the nations that Steve Madden has accelerated its move is Vietnam, with Cambodia, Mexico and Brazil, said CEO Edward Rosenfeld at the time when the results are called.

Vietnam was the second largest country for suppliers of Ugg and Hoka Companie Mother Deckers Since this month. The company has 68 partners in the supply chain in Vietnam, which is only exceeded by its 125 suppliers in China. Deckers have dropped almost 9% in prolonged trading. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

VF Corporationwhich is made up of shoes, clothing and accessories brands such as North Face, Timberland, Vans and Jansport, also has a strong dependence on China and Vietnam. About 38% of its suppliers are in China and 17% are in Vietnam, adding up to 55% of exposure in the two countries, according to manufacturing disclosure from December.

The actions of the company fell by more than 8% in prolonged exchanges on Wednesday. VF refused to comment, quoting its calm period before its next report on the results.

The furniture industry has also increased its dependence in Vietnam.

In 2023, 26.5% of imports from American furniture came from the country, almost 29% from China, according to data from Home Furnishings Association, a commercial group which puts pressure on behalf of domestic products. The group cited the investment bank company Mann, Armistead & Epperson – one of the main data sources in the furniture sector.

Overall, this means that around 56% of American furniture imports come from the two combined regions.

During a call for results in February, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah said that the transition to countries outside China was “an increasing trend” since Trump had promulgated prices during his first administration.

He said that places like Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam “have grown up as places where people have factories and where our goods come from”.

Wayfair shares plunged around 12% in prolonged exchanges. In a statement, Wayfair said it “closely monitored the evolving commercial landscape”. The company added that it is “well positioned to continue to offer customers the best possible combination of value, assortment and experience”.

Players also relied on Vietnam to make more imported goods sold to children and adults across the United States HasbroSpinmaster, Matel And Crayola are among the companies working with GFT Group, one of the largest toy manufacturers in Southeast Asia.

In addition to the long -standing manufacturing facilities in China, GFT currently has five production facilities in northern Vietnam, which employ more than 15,000 workers.

During a call in early March, Funko The financial director, Yves Lependeven, said that the company, known for its plastic collectibles with big eyes called Pops, worked hard to control what it could during the coming year. This includes trying to compensate for prices by “renegotiating factory costs, accelerating our change in production to other countries of supply and implementing price adjustments,” he said.

At the call, he said that after a third of the world’s purchases of Funko products come from China. He did not name the countries to which Funko moves production, but it is a customer of GFT Group.

These players did not immediately respond to CNBC comment requests.

For companies, including clothing manufacturers, new pricing policies have raised questions about the question of whether – and where – to potentially move their manufacture. Last month, an investor asked for American Eagle Outfitters On his exhibition in Vietnam during his last call for results.

The financial director, Michael Mathias, said that the production of the jeans and clothing brand is similar to Vietnam and China, with “20%high adolescents” of production in each of these countries. He said the company aims to reduce this to a single figure by half of the year.

The American Eagle shares fell more than 5% on Wednesday. The company did not immediately respond to the request for CNBC comments.

However, Mathias and the CEO of American Eagle, Jay Schottenstein, said during the last call for the company’s results that he would be crucial to remain flexible, while waiting to see how the prices would take place and which countries would be targeted.

Schottenstein referred eight years ago in the first Trump administration, when American Eagle also faced challenges and had to find a new plan.

Schotenstein said there was another change to come, but “no one knows what history is still”.

“I wouldn’t rush,” he said. “Are you going to rush, where I rush? I don’t know where I rush.”

Peter Baum is Baum Essex’s financial director and operating officer, a manufacturer based in New York with licenses to make products for brands like Nautica, Betsey Johnson and Steve Madden. During the first Trump administration in 2019, Baum moved from China factories to the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and India.

He told CNBC on Wednesday that reciprocal prices would do massive damage to his business.

“This is how you start a global depression. After 80 years and five generations, Trump has just put us bankrupt,” said Baum.

– CNBC Sarah WhittenJason Gewirtz and Eammon Javers contributed to this report.