Over 600 companies signed a letter that will be presented during a meeting at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, where $300 billion in new tariffs are being debated. 173 companies do not support tariffs.
Do you know why these two groups of companies have such differing opinions? The companies against Trump manufacture their products in China and those supporting the president manufacture their products here hiring millions of Americans. Do I need to tell you which group I agree with?
Most of the anti-Trump companies manufacture high-end tennis shoes. They pay cheap wages for labor and huge contracts to a few top athletes.
In an online filing by Apple, the company claims these new tariffs would keep them from being as competitive as they’d like and reduce their contribution to the U.S. Treasury.
Apple’s comments, however, are much more subdued compared to other large corporations.
Earlier this year, according to Bloomberg, 173 footwear companies — including Nike and Adidas — signed a joint letter that said Trump’s proposed tariffs would be “catastrophic for our consumers, our companies and the American economy as a whole.”
“On behalf of our hundreds of millions of footwear consumers and hundreds of thousands of employees, we ask that you immediately stop this action,” the team of footwear companies collectively demanded.
They want to keep the gravy-train going at the expense of the American economy — they’re worried people won’t buy their newly-tariffed footwear and will instead pick up a pair of shoes manufactured in the United States.
Despite what those massive companies think, a letter signed by 600 American businesses that are tired of China “taking advantage” of them tells a far different story.