In his announcement on April 2, the US President spoke of the “Liberation Day”. The HDS/L main manager Manfred Junkert sees it differently: “In our view, it is anything but a liberation. Customs are always a burden, both financially and bureaucratic. And the dimensions in which tariffs are now to be charged. They have never existed in any case. Counters covered up, countermeasures have to expect, ”said Junkert on Schuhkurier request.
According to the HDS/L general manager, the situation was not comparable to the punitive tariffs that the EU had raised on shoes from China and Vietnam from 2006 to 2011: “At that time it was about fighting a dumping through China and Vietnam that had sold shoes under prize from the perspective of the EU.” The US government’s now announced measures are rather “a campaign against the whole world”.
“The name ‘Reviprok’ is misleading,” continues Junkert. “Of course there are tariffs worldwide on certain goods and product groups. Reciproc would mean that they would be raised against tariffs, these individual goods. 20% to 50% inches on everything-that has nothing to do with reciprocal,” emphasizes Junkert and adds: “The announcement of the Trump administration now leads to great uncertainty, because nobody knows how long are the tariffs or four years? In any case, uncertainty is harmful to the business. “
For German shoe manufacturers, it must now be checked from where shoes are delivered to the USA. If, for example, a sports shoe provider has the goods mainly produced in Vietnam, it is a difference whether the shoes are delivered directly from there to the USA (according to the Trump announcement of April 2, this means 46% inch) or from a warehouse in the EU (20%). When delivering directly from China, 34% inch would be charged. “The question also arises as to who controls the tariff.
