Duties could hit outdoor, sporting sectors

Fearing that the outdoor and sporting goods industries could be the next collateral damage of US President Donald Trump's tariffs against Chinese goods, industry leaders are pursuing exemptions from the duties.

After the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on $34 billion in Chinese goods on July 6, the office of the US Trade Representative released a list of proposed targets for 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports on July 11.

The latest round targets sporting products such as backpacks, duffel bags, bicycles, hats, gloves and some leather goods. The baseball and softball gloves are expected to be the hardest hit.

"Will there be a third round? Who knows? But if this continues, I fully expect the industry to be hit harder going forward," said Bill Sells, senior vice-president of government and public affairs at the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.

"As they dig deeper into China's exports to the US, there's little doubt in my mind that we will be targeted more in the future," Sells said on a recent webinar.

The organization is calling on its members to participate in a petition process to exempt industry products from the tariffs list ahead of the official exemption hearing scheduled for Friday.

"Time is of the essence. If you want to request exemption from the new tariffs, we need to move quickly," he said.

A public comment period on the list of products is open through Aug 17, with a public hearing taking place from Aug 20 to 23 in Washington. The final list of products subject to a 10 percent tariff will be released after Aug 30.

One of the arguments could be that China has become the centralized producer, and there's no capacity elsewhere, David Cohen, an international trade expert with Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, told the webinar.

The tariffs also would hit a booming $887 billion outdoor recreation economy, which supports 7.6 million US jobs and generates $80 billion in tax revenues at the federal, state and local levels.

The outdoor recreation industry has been recognized by many states as an economic powerhouse over the past few years to replace declining businesses.

Additional tariffs on outdoor products could have a "devastating" impact on outdoor companies and significantly raise costs for consumers, the Outdoor Industry Association said in a recent statement.

The current import tariffs on outdoor products are as high as 20 percent. Apparel and footwear were not on the list.

"We urge administration officials to continue to engage their Chinese counterparts in a constructive dialogue to resolve legitimate concerns about China's IP (intellectual property) practices and forced technology transfers," said the organization.