Despite all the furor around tariff impact, China was still the dominant supplier to the U.S. last year.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers Association (FDRA) sifted through data from the U.S. International Trade Commission that showed China imported 964 million pairs to the U.S. in 2025. Dollar and volume import shares fell to 35-year lows, while the average landed cost relative to the world cost slid to a 34-year low.
“Since 2010, China continues to shed market share to the other countries, but it seems to be picking up speed,” FDRA CEO Matt Priest said. “It’s the lowest level we’ve seen out of China for volume and value in 35 years.”
Priest added that other countries in the top 10 saw gains in the increase of their footwear shipments to the U.S. He noted that tariffs were a big factor that acted as an “accelerant” to the move out of China. While China has become more price competitive for shoes, Priest said that shoe firms are cutting back because they’re “spooked” over fears that tariffs could climb back up to 45 percent again.
“They don’t want to go through what they went through the last few years, so [even if China is more price competitive], that doesn’t necessarily mean companies are going to be incentivized to go back into China and source a bunch of product,” the FDRA CEO said.
Holding steady for positions two through seven were Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Mexico and Italy to round out the top seven spots.
Vietnam shipped 574 million pairs of shoes, with shipments to the U.S. climbing for 23 of the last 25 years. Average landed costs for Vietnam climbed to a 24-year high of $21.17 a pair in 2025.
Indonesia shipped 194 million pairs of shoes last year to the U.S. A weak year for the rupiah lowered the average landed cost premium over world cost to a 26-year low. That, in turn, spurred record shipments and volume to the U.S. in 2025.
Shoe shipments to the U.S. from Cambodia soared 50 percent to a record of 105 million pairs last year, as the average landed cost relative to the world cost fell to a five-year low.
India’s rupee saw record weakness last year, which cut the average landed cost premium over world cost to the lowest in decades. That helped to spur record volume import share to the U.S. last year to 37 million pairs.
Shipments to the U.S. from Mexico saw little change at 21 million pairs. The average landed cost to the U.S. jumped to a record in 2025, which helped to offset a weaker peso.
Rounding out the top seven in ranking was Italy, which shipped 20 million pairs to the U.S. The number of shipments to the U.S
The rankings for the bottom three to round out the top 10 saw some shift, with Bangladesh moving up to the eighth spot from No. 10 in 2024. A chart from the FDRA indicated that footwear shipments to the U.S. shot up 76 percent in 2025 to a “near record” as the taka declined. That resulted in the average landed cost premium over world cost to fall to an 18-year low.
Germany, No. 8 in 2024, fell to No. 9 last year. It shipped 16 million pairs to the U.S. even though the average landed cost rose to a 12-year high. “Men’s, women’s, leather and sandals all saw record [shipments] to the U.S. in 2025,” the FDRA noted.
And rounding out the Top Ten is Thailand, moving up one spot from No. 11 in 2024. Footwear shipments to the U.S. totaled 14 million pairs, representing a 42 percent increase and a 17-year high. That’s despite the baht rising to the highest since 2021.
According to FDRA’s CEO, Brazil was in the ninth spot in 2024 but fell down to the 11th position in 2025. That’s not surprising, he said, due to higher tariffs for most of 2025. Brazil, a key trading partner ranked among the top 20 at around No. 16, had a 50 percent tariff rate — 40 percent imposed, on top of an existing 10 percent tariff — for a significant portion of 2025.
Shoe manufacturers started 2025 knowing that tariffs were likely on the way now that a new sheriff — U.S. President Donald Trump — was in town for the second time. What they did not expect was the decision by Trump to impose reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
Footwear firms responded by rejiggering their supply chains as uncertainties over expected tariff headwinds were front and center for the bulk of 2025. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs imposed by Trump under IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) were illegal, only to see a new 15 percent tariff imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 that runs through July 24th.
And that’s just to start — new Section 301 investigations were launched by the U.S. Trade Representative this month representing the next phase of tariff actions that target two areas, excess production capacity and forced labor.
