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Dive Brief:
Dive Insight:
Despite efforts to mitigate tariff impacts, Under
Armour
still faces significant exposure to U.S. duties.
In April, the Trump administration outlined plans for reciprocal tariffs on multiple countries, including a
46% duty on imports from Vietnam
— Under Armour’s largest sourcing country. The U.S. has since then put a
90-day pause
on reciprocal tariffs, but recently signaled plans to
reinstate the duties
in the upcoming weeks.
Some of the other strategies Under
Armour
is considering include cost-sharing initiatives with its key partners and targeted price adjustments, Bergman said.
As tariffs continue to sow demand uncertainty, the activewear brand has also been “pretty tight” with managing purchase orders, the CFO told analysts.
“We do expect that wherever demand ultimately develops through the year that we'll be able to manage inventory within a pretty tight range to that,” he said, adding that a lot of the inventory is “current.”
Other brands are also opting to leverage several contingency plans over a single one. Discount retailer Dollar Tree, for instance,
outlined multiple ways
it is planning to buffer the impact of tariffs, including negotiating supplier cost concessions and cutting non-economical items from its inventory.
Under
Armour
has made efforts to reassess its supply chain beyond tariffs to help improve speed and lower costs. For instance, the sportswear brand began an overhaul last year of its
distribution and logistics operations
with the intention of enhancing end-to-end planning capabilities.
The company has also made disciplined strides to reduce inventory and
SKUs
to help drive savings and is nearing its goal of
25% SKU reduction
, President and CEO Kevin Plank told analysts.