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How Trump’s Tariffs Could Affect Nike and Its Factory Workers
Matthew Kish (The Oregonian/OregonLive) 08 May 2025
Economy & Nation
This article was produced by ProPublica in partnership with The Oregonian/OregonLive.
 
In May 2015, President Barack Obama gave a big speech about dropping trade barriers with other nations. He delivered it on a sunny day at Nike’s world headquarters in Oregon.
 
“Sometimes when we talk about trade, we think of Nike,” Obama said, before making his pitch for a trade deal with Asian countries that he described as the “highest-standard, most progressive trade deal in history.”
 
President Donald Trump cancelled that deal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, less than two years later.
 
Now, as Trump erects more trade barriers in his second administration, Nike once again is centre stage in conversations about globalisation, a familiar place for a company that has its roots in importing Japanese track shoes and briefly made sneakers in the United States. 
 
Last month, Trump announced sweeping tariffs that would slam imports from the countries where most Nike sneakers and apparel get made. A close look at Nike’s massive supply chain offers a case study in the possible ripple effects of the escalating global trade war and shows how vulnerable factory workers could get squeezed.
 
Some degree of taxation on imports has long been a feature of international garment trade, and Nike has decades of experience navigating these tariffs. The company has not spoken about how it will handle the current round under Trump, but it’s among 76 companies that signed a letter to the president last week warning about dire consequences for footwear companies unless there is tariff relief.
 
In response to questions about how tariffs might impact factory workers, Nike said in a statement it is “committed to ethical and responsible manufacturing.”
 
“We build long-term relationships with our contract manufacturing suppliers because we know having trust and mutual respect supports our ability to create products more responsibly, accelerate innovation and better serve consumers,” the statement said.
 
Where does Nike make sneakers and clothing? 
Nike doesn’t own or operate the overseas factories that make its products. Instead, it works with 532 contract manufacturers that employ nearly 1.2 million workers, according to an online Nike map.
 
No country is more important to Nike’s manufacturing than Vietnam, where the brand works with 131 factories that employ nearly 460,000 workers. Half of Nike’s sneakers were made in Vietnam last year, according to the company’s annual report.
 
Nike’s second-largest production base is Indonesia, where its 45 contract factories employ more than 280,000 workers.
 
The company has been moving production out of China over the last decade. It works with 120 Chinese contract factories that employ more than 100,000 workers — down from more than 350,000 workers in 2012. Some of the footwear and apparel that Nike makes in China is sold to Chinese consumers and therefore not subject to tariffs.
 
Are tariffs affecting Nike? 
Yes. On April 2, Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs that included 46% on Vietnam, 32% on Indonesia and 34% on China. The next trading day, Nike’s shares fell 14%, wiping out $14 billion in shareholder value.
 
A week later, the president paused most of the tariffs for 90 days, but a 145% tariff on imports from China and a 10% surcharge on most imports from other countries remain in place. Continue Reading…
 
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