'2011 was fruitful for US footwear industry' - AAFA

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) released its ShoeStats 2012 report, a snapshot of the U.S. footwear industry market trends for 2011. ShoeStats 2012 examines business and trade information related to U.S. footwear consumption, production, employment, imports, and retail prices.

"With a 7.9 percent surge in domestic footwear manufacturing, 2011 was a very positive year for the U.S. footwear industry,”said AAFA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “2011 was also marked by an increase in retail sales and growth in employment at the manufacturing, wholesale, and retail levels. 2011 also represents a shift in sourcing as the industry began to diversify its supply chain away from China to other viable sourcing partners, including the United States.”

"Accounting for more than one million U.S. workers, the U.S. footwear industry is a powerful example of an industry that is able to create jobs and provide meaningful savings for American families because of international trade,”Burke said.“With more than 98 percent of the footwear sold in the United States being produced internationally, there is a distinct and positive correlation between trade and job creation in the U.S. footwear industry, even while seeing growth in domestic manufacturing.”

To continue supporting more than one million American jobs related directly to the U.S. footwear industry and the countless others supported by the industry, the U.S. government must continue to reduce barriers to trade, including the immediate congressional passage of the Affordable Footwear Act. This common sense legislation would eliminate the hidden and regressive import taxes that only drive up the prices on low-cost and children’s shoes. Its passage directly benefits hardworking American families and supports jobs here in the United States while continue to protect the remaining footwear manufacturers in the United States.

The Affordable Footwear Act (H.R. 2697 / S. 1069) was introduced on July 29, 2011, in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and co-sponsored by Representatives Joe Crowley (D-NY), Kevin Brady (R-TX), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and in the U.S. Senate by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and co-sponsored by Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Patty Murray (D-WA) on May 25, 2011.

Key Facts from ShoeStats 2012:

• U.S. footwear consumption by volume for 2011 dropped 3.8 percent to more than 2.18 billion pairs of shoes.  While consumption dropped slightly over the significant gains made in 2010, the decrease in consumption does not represent a return to the recession-level consumption experienced in 2008 and 2009.
• While U.S. footwear consumption slightly declined in 2011, the value of sales grew by 4.8 percent to $66.1 billion at retail.  This growth reflects both the increase in price driven by higher supply chain costs, including increases in materials, labor, and transportation, as well as consumers returning to purchases of shoes at higher price-points coming out of the recession.
• 98.6 percent of footwear sold in the United States is made internationally, a 0.2 percent decline from 2010, which represents the first-ever decline in import penetration, or the amount of the U.S. footwear market supplied by imports.
• On average, every American, including every man, woman, and child in the United States spent $212 on more than seven pairs of shoes in 2011.
• Americans, on average, continue to spend an ever smaller percentage of their household income to buy more shoes.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is the national trade association representing apparel, footwear and other sewn products companies, and their suppliers, which compete in the global market. AAFA's mission is to promote and enhance its members' competitiveness, productivity and profitability in the global market by minimizing regulatory, commercial, political, and trade restraints.