SOURCING & SUPPLY CHAIN
WF
11
Brave new world for
Mexican footwear
D
ecember 11 this year is a key date for the
Mexican footwear industry. Current duties of
70% on imports of shoes from China will drop on
that day to 0%, opening up the Mexican market to
brands and manufacturers from the Asian country. This
has frayed the nerves of the almost 8,000 companies
involved in the production of shoes in Mexico. Together
they made 244 million pairs of shoes and boots in 2010,
of which only 18.7 million pairs, 7.7%, went for export.
And to meet domestic demand, which totalled 285
million pairs in 2010, importers brought 58.6 million
pairs into the country. With a 70% tariff to pay, Mexico
is less attractive than many other export markets to
shoe companies in China. When this barrier is removed,
the picture is likely to be very different. This at least is
the great fear of many in Mexico.
Self-defence
The governor of Guanajuato, one of Mexico’s most
important footwear-producing states (with 70% of
national footwear output), Juan Manuel Oliva Ramírez,
has said he supports moves by the Mexican footwear
industry to defend itself against “unfair competition”.
Addressing a meeting organised by the state’s footwear
industry association (CICEG) at the start of 2011, Mr
Oliva said: “We don’t want the jobs that the footwear
and leather industries create in Guanajuato to be taken
away by China. We don’t want our people to end up
unemployed.”
CICEG president, Armando Martín Dueñas, has urged
state and federal governments to act to defend
Mexico’s footwear industry, which supports 571,000 jobs
across the country. He insists the Mexican industry is
Tariffs of 70% on imports of shoes into Mexico from China are about to
disappear. Manufacturers in the Mexican market are fearful of how a sharp
increase in Chinese imports may affect their businesses.
A Zara store in Mexico, contributing the country’s footwear
market of 285 million pairs a year.
CREDIT: INDITEX