End the Shoe Tax!
It is time for Congress to “Stomp Out the Shoe Tax.”
Today, 99 percent of all footwear sold in the United States is imported. Yet U.S. footwear firms still pay the U.S. treasury more than $1.9 billion in import duties every year. With mark-ups at the wholesale and retail level, those $1.9 billion in duties amount to a $6 billion tax on hardworking American families.
The Affordable Footwear Act (H.R. 1708) is legislation moving through Congress that seeks to end the most egregious of these shoe taxes, the expensive import tariffs on lower- to moderately-priced and children’s footwear no longer made in the United States, to ultimately lower the price of shoes – something everyone must buy.
The import tariffs targeted in the Affordable Footwear Act protect no one, yet cost American families billions of dollars every year. The Affordable Footwear Act targets $700 million of the $1.9 billion Americans pay every year in duties. With markups at the wholesale and retail level, this $700 million in cost to the U.S. Treasury actually translates into $2-3 billion in savings for hardworking U.S. families. And with those savings, Americans will hopefully buy more shoes, supporting the 1 million U.S. workers employed in the U.S. footwear industry.
At the same time, the Affordable Footwear Act was carefully crafted to ensure that protections remain in place for the few remaining domestic footwear manufacturers. As a result, the Affordable Footwear Act is truly non-controversial legislation supported by the entire U.S. footwear industry.
Act Now! Tell your member of Congress to “Stomp Out the Shoe Tax” by urging them to co-sponsor the Affordable Footwear Act (H.R. 1708).
In the News
AAFA Applauds House Re-Introduction of Affordable Footwear Act
April 25, 2013 | AAFA Press Release
“The Affordable Footwear Act represents a win-win-win situation for the U.S. footwear industry, its one million U.S. workers, and hardworking American families,” said AAFA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke.
A Shoe Tarriff With a Big Footprint
November 11, 2013 | Wall Street Journal, Op-Ed
Black Friday shoppers looking for shoes on sale might not realize it, but much of the footwear sold in America would be instantly more affordable if not for a Depression-era tariff that keeps the price of imported shoes artificially high. For the past eight decades, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 has raised the price of footwear from overseas by as much as 67.5%.
Resources
Fact Sheets
Get all the key facts about the issues surrounding the Affordable Footwear act at a quick glance.
Legislation (AFA) – H.R. 1708
See the text in its entirety for both the House- and Senate-proposed bills for the Affordable Footwear Act, and follow their progress.
Sponsors / Co-Sponsors
View a list of the sponsors / co-sponsors of both the House and Senate versions of AFA.