Sportswear Retailers Haven’t Yet Been Hit by Trump Tariffs

November 28, 2025

On April 2 from the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imports across the board, as well as varied reciprocal tariffs on nearly all countries the administration considered bad actors on trade.

Imports from Vietnam would get hit with a 46% tariff; goods from Indonesia would see 32% tariffs; Cambodia, 37%. (The Trump administration has since struck new deals with some countries, including Vietnam in August, agreeing to a 20% tariff.)

The stock market plunged 4.8% that day, as investors feared higher costs to make goods abroad would hurt companies’ bottom lines and eat into consumer budgets. Shares of sportswear retailers, including Adidas, Nike, and On Holdings, plunged the day after the announcement, as they manufacture the bulk of their products outside the U.S., predominantly in Asia.

Just one week later, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs (but kept the universal 10% tariffs).

There would be time for countries to negotiate with the U.S., but experts already began forecasting how tariffs would hurt consumers and the economy. In April, Goldman Sachs saw a 45% probability of a recession over the next 12 months, which was lowered to a 30% probability in June. The Yale Budget Lab estimated that “Liberation Day” tariffs would translate to a 1.3% increase in consumer prices, equivalent to a loss of purchasing power of $2,100 per household on average.

Sneaker brands including Nike and On raised prices on shoes and apparel. In September, footwear prices as tracked by the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.3% from the previous year.

Luckily for them, consumers—at least in the aggregate—are still spending: total credit and debit card spending per household in October recorded the largest year-over-year jump since February 2024, up 2.4%, compared to 2.0% year-over-year in September, according to Bank of America. Market research firm Circana found that through October, dollar sales of adult running shoes are up 10% vs. last year, which it attributes to more pairs sold and higher average selling price.

Perhaps the concern over tariffs last spring was overblown. Or perhaps the impact just hasn’t arrived yet. FOS