This morning sneakers and politics are on the President Obama's agenda as he pays a visit to Nike Headquarters to discuss pro-trade.
With the Beaverton, Ore., campus in the backdrop, Obama will speak to the audience regarding the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposal "mandating higher labor and environmental standards in Asia," which would hopefully put an end to sweatshops as well as create incentive for companies to bring manufacturing back stateside.
But rival New Balance isn't too pleased. In a statement by New Balance Vice President Matt LeBretton to POLITICO, he said, “I think it’s great that the President is getting out and talking about his agenda. But it would be great to have him come to a footwear company that actually still makes shoes in the United States and be talking about this agreement. We’d welcome that opportunity.”
One of New Balance's greatest concerns, as well as those of detractors of the proposed bill, is Nike's push to eliminate tariffs for shoes manufactured in Vietnam. Those tariffs currently amount in the "hundreds of millions" and repealing them could potentially jeopardize U.S. jobs by making it even harder to compete with Vietnam manufacturing costs. Nike's claim is that its U.S.-based employees are dependent on free trade, and the proposal would also allow the brand to create as many as 10,000 more engineering and manufacturing jobs, while creating even more in construction and other support positions.
While we're at it, let's take a second to remember the New Balance 990s — Made in USA, of course — the brand gifted the President a few years back.
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