US retailers left with few options around Trump tariffs: AAFA CEO

President-elect Donald Trump referenced levying heavier tariffs on his campaign trail, but will he follow through on his promises upon reentering the White House? Market Domination speaks with American Apparel & Footwear Association CEO and President Steve Lamar to discuss how retailers are bracing for Trump's tariff policy proposals.

"We don't have the scale and capability or the skill set even to really bring the, the production back to the US. So they [retailers] looked for other ways to do it," Lamar tells Yahoo Finance. "But by and large, what you saw was tariffs being imposed on products that ultimately, in many cases, made their way to consumers in the form of higher prices."

Lamar explains to Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton why there are "really no good options" as heightened tariffs would impact a wide array of consumer good imports, reminding that "relocating production back to the US at that level of scale isn't really an option."

Although, Lamar also explores potential actions in reshoring production for retailers, suggesting how "one of the really cool ones that we're looking at or that that Congress has proposed, is to try to create more incentives for circularity. So using used clothing, taking that used clothing and turning that into new fabrics, new materials, and then repurposing that. Whether that's made in the United States or exported and then made somewhere else."

Lamar spells out what tariff pressures could mean for future earnings results, comparing the US retail environment with that of Europe.

Walmart (WMT) CFO John David Rainey told Yahoo Finance earlier today that the store is "always going to look to work with our suppliers or use our own private brand assortment to try to bring down prices for customers" amid looming tariffs.

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This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.