Steve Madden to Reduce China Production Amid Looming Trump Tariffs

Other U.S. and foreign companies begin to consider looming trade levies.

A woman carrying a Steve Madden shopping bag walks through the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, on Sept. 21, 2023. Bing Guan/Reuters

Steve Madden, a $3 billion shoe company, plans to reduce imports from China by as much as 45 percent over the next year ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to impose sweeping tariffs.

CEO Edward Rosenfeld confirmed to shareholders and analysts during a Nov. 7 earnings call that the shoe brand is “planning for a potential scenario” in which it “would have to move goods out of China more quickly.”