(qlmbusinessnews.com . Thurs 1st Apr, 2025) London, UK —
From €610m Profit to Price Hikes: Adidas on the Brink of Tariff-Driven Inflation
German sportswear titan Adidas has cautioned that recent US import duties will push up retail prices for its hallmark trainers in America. Chief Executive Bjørn Gulden told CNBC that, since almost none of Adidas’s footwear is manufactured stateside, any elevated tariffs will ultimately be borne by US consumers through higher costs for models such as the Gazelle and Samba.
The clothing and footwear sector has borne the brunt of President Donald Trump’s protectionist drive, with duties of 145% on Chinese goods and retaliatory 125% levies by Beijing on US exports. Although Adidas has reduced its shipments from China to a minimum, it remains exposed via production hubs in Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh, which face some of the steepest US levies.
Gulden admitted that quantifying the precise price increase is “currently impossible”, as negotiations between Washington and exporting nations continue. As a result, Adidas has tabled its planned profit upgrade for 2025, instead maintaining a conservative outlook amid tariff ambiguity.
To soften the blow, the company has re-routed footwear initially destined for the US to other markets and accelerated inventory clearance in regions less affected by levies. Yet Gulden warned that if tariffs are sustained, US consumer demand could be dented by inflationary pressure, echoing his warning that “if there are 25% duties coming … inflation will go up and volumes will go down.”
Despite these headwinds, Adidas reported a stellar first quarter, with operating profit nearly doubling to €610 million and sales up 13% to €6.15 billion – its strongest performance for the period in the company’s history. Growth was particularly robust outside North America, where revenues climbed by double digits in Europe and China but were more modest in the US.
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