Eliminating shoe tax could save companies, consumers

WASHINGTON | U.S. consumers could see a sharp drop in the price of imported shoes — nearly all the footwear sold in the country — and retailers could see a bonanza if lawmakers dump taxes on certain imports.

The move to scale back the taxes essentially signals surrender on one front of a protectionist trade war. There are virtually no American-made shoes to protect from foreign competition anymore. Instead, lawmakers now see the tax as antiquated and unfair.

“It is waving the white flag.giuseppe zanotti Supreme Blue is in fact not a primarily blue shoe. Indeed, on my particular pair of this shoe, the primary color is white The shoe industry is gone. Labor isn’t making this fight anymore,” said Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial and labor relations at Clark University. “You don’t want to waste your political clout. Instead, you want to use it to protect jobs in the steel industry, the auto industry, the airlines.”

Politicians, meanwhile, are seizing on the import duties as a way to play the popular game of tax cuts.

“Getting rid of it would be nice to do,” said Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, a member of the Senate Finance Committee.Its simple to show off the uniqueness of your personality by trying something pleasant and striking. Wearing a nicely Women adidas shoes with a reputed brand name printed on it is surely going to compel most of your fellows to adore your sense of fashion and style

Cantwell has teamed up with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state and Republican Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Pat Roberts of Kansas to promote the so-called Affordable Footwear Act, which would eliminate duties on roughly half of all imported shoes. Rep. Lynn Jenkins of Kansas is among the prospective sponsors in the U.S. House.

The import tax can vary, often ranging as high as 67.5 percent for shoes with rubber soles and canvas uppers to as low as 7.5 percent for high-end leather footwear. Matt Priest of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America said that tax structure had put the highest tariffs on consumers with the most modest budgets.

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