Media Contact
Adam Allington
West Coast ports are reporting plunging cargo volumes, as the last pre-tariffs container ships arrive from China this week. The countdown to shortages and higher prices has now begun in earnest.
Jason Judd
Executive Director of the New Conversations Project
Jason Judd is executive director of Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute, with specific expertise on global supply chains. Given its low-wage, narrow-margin business model, he says the footwear and apparel market will likely see some of the most significant price increases.
Judd says:
“The average American household spent $1,700 on apparel and footwear in 2023. The April tariffs will run up those costs by nearly 70% in the short term for a jump of $1,100 per family. That pain will lessen as terms and sourcing patterns change but the longer-term costs per family will still be around a $425 increase per year.
“For U.S. working families at the buying end of supply chains and the working families at the producing end—think of women workers and their families in Bangladesh, Cambodia or Honduras—the pain will be significant. And familiar.
“The early months of the COVID pandemic had similar dynamics with one important difference. The snap back in demand for apparel and shoes that followed the pandemic is unlikely this time, for four reasons: Permanent changes in supply from China; long term shifts away from U.S. firms by the rest of the world; higher baseline costs for most goods; and the looming Trump recession. A double-double whammy. A poly-crisis kicked off by a confusing—and confused—tariff policy.”
