Your help is needed now to avoid potentially significant price hikes for footwear. Up to 50 percent of rubber bottom fly fishing wading boots could be impacted! If you think you’ll have trouble selling more expensive products, now is the time to weigh in and avoid that possibility…
From OIA CEO Frank Hugelmeyer: “As you may be aware, the administration staff at USTR and Commerce has reiterated its intention to oppose outdoor industry miscellaneous tariff bills. We are now trying to get USTR Ambassador Marantis to override the recommendation of his staff and at least approve the extension of the MTB’s that we have had in place for 6 years.
Please send as many individual staff emails as you can today from your leadership, departments, retailers and staff – anyone that will be impacted. It is vitally important that we get a very large volume of emails to object to the USTR position because the final response deadline is here.
1. Wednesday (11.28.12) Please go to outdoorindustry.org/industryatrisk and review the updated instructions. Write an email to the footwear negotiators at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and U.S. Department of Commerce. Describe the disastrous consequences their actions will have for the outdoor industry. Share this email with everyone in your company and request that they also send an email.
2. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (11.28 – 11.30.12) Again, using the information at outdoorindustry.org/industryatrisk, write to Congressional leaders on the trade committee and remind them that bowing to the administration’s opposition and excluding the outdoor industry’s bills will have devastating consequences for your business and the outdoor retail industry. Please ask everyone in your company to also send an email.
Please help out your footwear colleagues and specialty retailers today. A threat to a product category that represents 30% of all specialty retail sales is a threat to us all.
