All Trade & Sourcing articles
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News briefs
Turkish inflation falls to four-year low
In November, Turkish consumer prices rose by 31.07 percent year-over-year, against 32.87 percent in October, the lowest level in four years, according to the statistics office Tuik. Month on month, inflation stood at 0.87 percent. However, independent economists at the Inflation Research Group (ENAG) claim that official data underestimates inflation ...
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UK scraps tariff exemption for low-value goods as EU accelerates similar reforms
The UK government will abolish its £135 tariff exemption for low-value imports, a measure expected to level the playing field for domestic retailers. The EU is fast-tracking similar reforms, signaling a major shift for cross-border e-commerce and sporting goods brands. The British finance minister, Rachel Reeves, confirmed plans to scrap ...
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News briefs
OrthoLite opens a manufacturing site in North Vietnam
OrthoLite, the US-based supplier of sustainable open-cell foam insoles, announced the opening of a new manufacturing facility in North Vietnam. Located in the Ninh Binh Province, the site marks a key milestone in the company’s strategy to localize production and enhance service for regional and global footwear brands. The OrthoLite ...
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ArticleASF 4.0 launches its Portuguese 'megafactory' after raising fresh cash
Advanced Shoe Factory 4.0 (ASF 4.0), a unit of the French textile producer Chamatex Group, said that it is proceeding with the launch of a “megafactory” in Portugal with the goal of producing 1.5 million pairs of sports shoes annually from 2030. The project is part of ASF 4.0’s ambition ...
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News briefs
US to cut Swiss trade tariffs to 15%
The United States and Switzerland reached trade agreement under which the US will cut import tariffs on Swiss products to 15 percent from 39 percent, while Switzerland will remove a range of tariffs across agriculture and industrial sectors and Swiss companies pledged to invest $200 billion in the US ...
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News briefs
Hwaseung Footwear to build a plant in India
Hwaseung Footwear, a leading South Korean footwear manufacturer with producers for global brands such as Adidas, plans to invest 898 crore rupee (€87.1m) in a manufacturing facility in Kuppam, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, to produce non-leather footwear. In the Indian numeral system, a crore corresponds to 10 ...
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News briefs
Paul Green ends production at its Austrian HQ
The Austrian footwear brand Paul Green has announced it will cease production at its headquarters in Mattsee, near Salzburg, citing a persistently difficult economic environment, declining consumer spending and recently introduced US tariffs on shoe imports. The company said that despite extensive efficiency measures, the high costs of local ...
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ArticleBirkenstock to open a new production facility in Germany
Birkenstock is set to open a new manufacturing plant in Wittichenau, in the Saxony region, dedicated to the production of its signature cork-latex footbeds. The company has acquired the former Maja furniture factory in the Brischko district for around €18 million. The 78,000-square-meter production and logistics complex has been ...
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News briefs
US, China agree on a truce in trade war
Following a meeting on Oct. 30 in Busan, South Korea, the US President, Donald Trump, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, reached a multi-point agreement to ease trade tensions. China agreed to suspend its new rare-earth export controls for one year, effectively maintaining access to critical materials for US ...
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Coats starts building a factory in Indonesia
Coats Rejo Indonesia, which is part of the British manufacturer of industrial threads and footwear components, Coats, has begun building a new €35 million dyeing and finishing factory in Pleret, Indonesia. The facility will combine twisting, dyeing, yarn finishing and structural component production, with capacity projected to reach 9 tonnes ...
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News briefs
China’s footwear exports decline slightly in volume
China exported more than 5.1 billion pairs in the first seven months of 2025, down by 0.7 percent year-over-year, generating $25.6 billion in revenues, down by 7.3 percent, according to the China Leather Industry Association. Exports of leather footwear accounted for 300 million pairs and almost $4.4 billion in value.China ...
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News briefs
China to impose extra fees on US ships from Oct. 14
China will impose additional fees on US vessels using its ports from Oct. 14 in retaliation to a similar measure by the US, according to the Transport Ministry. The extra fees will apply to ships owned and operated by American companies, as well as vessels built in the US. The ...
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ArticleIndia fails to increase its share in global footwear exports
India’s footwear industry is failing to increase its share in global exports due competition from countries such as Vietnam, China and Italy, according to NITI Aayog’s quarterly trade report. NITI Aayog is the premier policy think tank of the Indian government. It is advocating a series of measures including ...
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ArticleTrump plans to increase tariffs on Chinese imports to 130%
The US President, Donald Trump, wrote on the social network Truth Social that he plans to increase US tariffs on Chinese imports by 100 percentage points on Nov.1, lifing the duties to 130 percent from 30 percent currently. The US will also introduce new controls on “any and all critical ...
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ArticleItalian prosecutor seeks to put Tod’s under court administration
Paolo Storari, a Milan-based public prosecutor, is seeking to put Tod’s under judicial administration for having allegedly facilitated poor working conditions in its supply chain. The Italian luxury goods group is accused of using suppliers operating workshops where workers lived “in conditions of quasi-slavery with wages of €2.75 per hour,” ...
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US reportedly calling on EU to water down green regulations
The US is calling on the European Union to water down parts of its green legislation just months after agreeing a tariff pact with the bloc to avoid an all-out trade war, the Financial Times reported. Washington has asked Brussels to scrap requirements for non-EU companies to provide “climate ...
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ArticleDäumling stops shoe production in Germany
After more than seven decades of domestic manufacturing, the children’s shoe brand Däumling is shutting down its production facility in Bruchweiler-Bärenbach, in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. The move comes amid declining sales and mounting cost pressures, marking another blow to the country’s struggling footwear industry, which has seen ...
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News briefs
Vietnamese exports to the US may drop by one-fifth
The 20 percent import tariff imposed on Aug. 7 by the US on Vietnamese goods could reduce the country’s exports to America by nearly one-fifth, making it the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia, according to estimates by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Vietnam’s exports to the US could fall ...
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ArticleEU and Indonesia sign free-trade deal
The agreement is welcomed by European sporting goods and footwear industry associations
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ArticleCambrelle launches production in Vietnam
Cambrelle, a British lining brand for footwear, said that it is expanding capacity to Vietnam, where production is now underway to meet the growing local supply needs of global brands. The Vietnamese plant can also produce Cambrelle with fully recycled fiber. Cambrelle is a bicomponent fiber that combines two polyamides, ...
