The company behind some of President Donald Trump’s go-to shoes is seeking a refund for the tariffs he imposed.
Weyco Group, which owns footwear brands including Bogs and Nunn Bush, sued the federal government in December over tariffs, according to a complaint filed in the US Court of International Trade.
The shoe maker filed the lawsuit, betting that the US Supreme Court could strike down the tariffs that Trump has enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
One of the brands that Weyco owns is Florsheim Shoe Company, which makes leather Oxfords that Trump himself wears. The shoes cost about $145 a pair.
Trump has also given pairs of Florsheims to members of his cabinet and others who visit the White House, such as Tucker Carlson, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The White House wouldn’t confirm Trump’s choice of Florsheim to the publication.
Weyco CEO Thomas Florsheim Jr. did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Florsheim told Spectrum News 1 last month, after the Supreme Court’s ruling, that his company paid a tariff rate as high as 145% on shoes it imported from China last year. It tried to avoid the duties by moving production to India — only to see its imports from that country hit with tariffs as well.
“The idea behind the tariffs originally was pro-business, and it feels like somehow the pro-business part of this has gotten lost,” Florsheim said.
Weyco’s lawsuit does not specify how much the company has spent on tariffs since Trump began imposing them last year, but Florsheim told Spectrum that the company “has spent millions on tariffs.”
The lawsuit asked the international trade court to refund Weyco’s tariff costs, with interest.
Earlier this month, a judge for the trade court said that companies are “entitled to benefit” from the Supreme Court’s ruling, a decision that could lead to tariff refunds. Exactly how and when those refunds would arrive remains unclear.
Read the full article here
