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As the World Economic Forum continues in Davos, Switzerland, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi is joined by Ralph Lauren (RL) CEO Patrice Louvet to talk about the impacts of US President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on all imports from China.
"We've diversified our sourcing pretty dramatically over the past seven [to] eight years," Louvet says, explaining, "We used to be very dependent on China. China was more than 50% of our sourcing today. It's a low single-digit [to] mid-single digit [today]."
The CEO says, "What we've come to realize, and this is true for sourcing, but it's true for our overall approach as a company, diversification is critical ... For us, this ability to flex and to stay agile and nimble, I think, has served us pretty well and is going to continue to be a priority."
Despite efforts to move its supply chain away from China, Louvet indicates Ralph Lauren relies on China for some products. "China has some unique expertise in certain categories for us. Some of our more sophisticated sweaters are made in China. Some of our more sophisticated footwear is made in China."
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"I think under duress, we could always find alternatives, and as you can imagine, we're running all types of scenarios to be prepared. But again, what's important for us is [a] multiplicity of sourcing options."
The CEO notes that if Trump were to enforce a 25% tariff on all imports from China, "We can manage it," but "it likely translates into higher pricing for consumers at the end."
Click here for more of Yahoo Finance's coverage from the World Economic Forum in Davos.
This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.