WASHINGTON, May 19, 2025 – The United States Footwear Manufacturers Association is urging President Donald Trump to reinvest a portion of the revenue from new tariffs on foreign goods to help modernize and expand a domestic supply chain that is critical to our national preparedness.
“American footwear manufacturing is poised for significant growth,” USFMA Executive Director Bill McCann wrote in a letter to President Trump. “Long-established footwear manufacturers are reinvesting in domestic operations, and a new generation of entrepreneurs and startups are entering the industry with energy and innovation. Advances in materials and manufacturing processes, such as AI-powered automation and additive manufacturing, are helping to level the global playing field for American footwear manufacturers.”
The President’s landmark effort to reverse global trade imbalances offers a once in a generation opportunity to bolster a resurgent supply chain that is also critical for military readiness and national preparedness.
“Currently, U.S. footwear manufacturers produce approximately 25 million pairs of shoes annually — less than 1 percent of the 2.7 billion pairs sold in the United States each year,” McCann wrote. “We believe our nation should initially aim to produce at least 5 percent of the footwear we purchase, or roughly 135 million pairs annually.”
USFMA estimates that “a one-time federal investment” of $5 billion would achieve that goal. It would also create tens of thousands of “family-sustaining direct and indirect manufacturing jobs and significantly boost our national supply chain resilience,” according to McCann.
Even prior to the president’s tariffs, levies on footwear imports were projected to generate $3.3 billion in 2025.
“Achieving the goal of rebuilding American footwear manufacturing requires significant capital investment, particularly in state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment,” McCann continued. “USFMA proposes that a portion of tariff revenue generated from imported footwear be strategically reinvested to match private sector capital to modernize and expand domestic footwear production.”
Such a historic investment would also reduce reliance on foreign sources for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gowns that were in limited supply at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
“U.S. footwear manufacturers and their supply chain partners quickly pivoted, becoming a key part of the emergency response by producing millions of masks and other PPE items when overseas sources failed to deliver,” the letter recounted. “Our industry demonstrated their flexibility and patriotic commitment.”
But such supply chain vulnerabilities continue to extend to our troops in uniform. The letter cites a recent Department of Defense wargame that “identified significant constraints, bottlenecks, and limitations within the U.S. military’s clothing, textile, and footwear supply chains.”
“Alarmingly, up to 50 percent of our servicemembers currently wear foreign-made ‘optional’ boots, primarily from China and Vietnam, while on duty,” McCann added. “The bipartisan Better Outfitting Our Troops (BOOTS) Act in Congress would close this loophole by requiring that all boots worn by all U.S. military personnel to be made in America.”
The letter to President Trump was also sent to the secretaries of Defense, Commerce, and Treasury, and the United States Trade Representative.
“For the strength of our economy, for our ability to make things in America, and for the safety of our warfighters,” it concluded “we respectfully urge your Administration to support a manufacturing friendly tax code, reinvest tariff revenue from imported footwear to spur the production of domestic footwear, and ensure U.S. armed forces are equipped with best-in-class modern American-made footwear.”
The United States Footwear Manufacturers Association (USFMA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) association founded in 1986 to grow, protect and enhance the footwear industry’s manufacturing base in the United States.