WASHINGTON D.C. -- The National Retail Federation says it has asked Congress to pass legislation that would eliminate tariffs on a wide range of low-cost imported shoes, saying the measure would save shoppers an estimated $800 million a year collected under a 70-year-old “shoe tax.”
The National Retail Federation is calling it the “Affordable Footwear Act.”
“The shoe tax was adopted to protect a domestic industry that for all practical purposes no longer exists,” says NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Ironically, the tariff rates are highest for the lowest-cost shoes, meaning that low-income families are paying far more than they should for one of life’s basic necessities. It’s time to retire Depression-era trade policy.”
The NRD says S. 730, the Affordable Footwear Act, was introduced March 26 by Senator John Ensign, R-Nev., with Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., as the bill’s lead cosponsor.
The legislation would eliminate tariffs on about 60 percent of shoes imported into the United States, or nearly 1.5 billion pairs annually. It would apply to low-cost men’s, women’s and children’s footwear ranging from sneakers to high heels.
NRF claims that with the market for low-cost shoes being highly competitive, most of the savings would be passed on to consumers.
