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Prices of Nike Jordan and Adidas Samba sneakers are likely to rise in the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed a raft of new tariffs on Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, key manufacturers of sportswear and apparel. Shares in Nike, Adidas and Puma dropped sharply on Thursday after Vietnam was targeted with a 46% tariff rate, Cambodia with 49%, Bangladesh with 37% and Indonesia with 32%, while Trump hiked tariffs on China by an extra 34 percentage points, following the earlier 20% tariffs. Fast-fashion retailers H&M, which sources from China and Bangladesh mainly, and Zara owner Inditex were also hit. “The April 2 tariffs seem purpose-built to hobble the apparel industry,” said Dylan Carden, an analyst at William Blair in Chicago. The new tariffs would increase the average U.S. import tariff rate on apparel from 14.5% in 2024 to 30.6%, according to calculations by Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. Based on 2024 import values, the new tariffs would result in a total of $26 billion in duties on apparel, more than double last year’s level, Lu said. In the past years, apparel and sportswear brands have shifted their sourcing away from China due to escalating political tensions between Washington and Beijing and have imported more from countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. Retailers may not be able to fully offset these tariffs, as countering the impact of the levies on Vietnam alone would require price increases of 10% to 12%, according to UBS analysts. “With additional tariffs proposed across other key Asian sourcing hubs, the scenario of shifting production now looks far less viable, narrowing the set of effective mitigation levers available to brands,” the UBS analysts added. The U.S. imported more than $15 billion in textiles and garments from Vietnam in 2024, which was roughly about 10% of Vietnam’s total U.S. exports, according to a Jefferies note. Nike produced half its footwear and roughly 30% of its apparel in Vietnam in its 2024 financial year, while Adidas relied on the Asian nation for 39% of its footwear and 18% of its apparel last year. Shares of Nike tumbled about 8% in premarket trading, while Adidas dropped more than 10% to a one-year low. Puma’s shares fell 10.7% to hit their lowest level since November 2016. Rival sportswear makers, including Lululemon, Skechers, Under Armour, Hoka maker Deckers and On Holding were all down between 8% and 15% before the bell on Thursday. Nike, Adidas and Puma did not reply to requests for comment on the tariffs, while On said it was “constantly monitoring the evolving situation”. Helen Reid, Reuters
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Tech leaders often brand themselves as disruptorsand few fit that label more snugly than Elon Musk. In the three months since joining Donald Trump in the White House following Trumps election, Musk has certainly disrupted Washington. Now, reports suggest Musk is preparing to exit his government post, having led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and overseen sweeping cuts across numerous federal agencies. Musks time in government may be short-lived, but his political legacy is already sealed. As the architect of aggressive budget slashes, his tenure has sparked backlash that could linger far beyond the halls of powerand into the boardrooms of his private ventures. Musk stepping out the political firing line might calm the headlines, but the brand damage is already done, says social media expert Matt Navarra. The internet doesnt forget, and neither do his investors. Navarra believes Musks recent behaviorwhat he calls Musks political anticshas become a heavy drag on the entrepreneurs public image. Teslas stock has plummeted nearly 30% this year, while the recent merger of X, the social platform Musk acquired in 2022, with his AI startup xAI, has drawn ridicule for its apparent lack of financial return. At the heart of the reputational and financial downturn is a growing perception that Musk has prioritized political theater over operational focus. His reputation as a visionary founder has dimmed as his companies have stumbled. The Musk DOGE initiative and spending 110% of his time with the Trump administration in the White House/Palm Beach since January inauguration has been exacerbating and so troubling for investors and Tesla’s stock, says Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities. Though Ives remains optimistic about Teslas long-term potential, he acknowledges the fallout from Musks high-profile role in government austerity. Tesla has unfortunately become a political symbol because of Musk, and this is a very bad thing for the future of this technology stalwart, Ives says. With major protests erupting globally at Tesla dealerships, Tesla cars being keyed, and a full brand crisis tornado now underway, this has turned into a life of its own and cast a dark black cloud over Tesla’s stock. Navarra notes that this moment is particularly damaging because Musks companies were once buoyed by his persona. Tesla, X, and even SpaceX all used to benefit from his cult of personality, but now I think that charisma is curdled, he says. I think there’s a growing gap between Musk the innovator and Musk the provocateur, and it’s hard for any brand to thrive when its CEO behaves like a chaos agent on the timeline. So far, Musk appears unmovedor unawareof the toll his political turn has taken on his empire. (He did not respond to a request for comment sent to both his government and Tesla email addresses.) But Navarra warns the consequences may be long-lasting. Even if he fades from the political narrative, his digital footprint stays loud, he says. Every tweet, every jab at the media, or every partisan swipe, it all feeds into how the public sees Tesla and X. He’s not just shaping the narrative, he is the narrative, and the longer that continues, the harder it becomes for his companies to tell a different story.
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The Panama Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world, with about 7% of global trade passing through. It also relies heavily on rainfall. Without enough freshwater flowing in, the canals locks cant raise and lower ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Droughts mean fewer ships per day, and that can quickly affect Panamas finances and economies around the world. But the same freshwater is also essential for Panamas many other needs, including drinking water for about two million Panamanians, use by Indigenous people and farmers in the watershed, as well as hydropower. When the region experiences droughts, as it did in 20232024, the resulting water shortages can lead to increasing water conflicts. One of those conflicts involves a new dam the Panama Canal Authority plans to begin building in 2027. It would be designed to secure enough water to keep the canal, which contributes about 4.2% to the countrys gross domestic product, operating into the future, but it would also submerge farming communities and displace over 2,000 people from their homes. This recent drought wasnt an anomaly. As an academic who studies the effects of rising temperatures on water availability and sea level rise, Im aware that as the climate warms, Panama will likely face more extremes, both long dry spells and also periods of too much rain. That will force more trade-offs between residential needs and the canal over water use. Complex engineering remade the landscape The Panama Canal was built over a century ago at the narrowest point of the country and in the heart of its population center. The route was historically used by the Spanish colonies and later for a rail line between the oceans. The idea of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans began as a French endeavor, led by architect Ferdinand D. Lesseps, designer of the Suez Canal in Egypt. After the French effort failed, the U.S. government signed a treaty with newly independent Panama in 1903 to take over the project. The U.S. acquired the rights to build and operate the Panama Canal in exchange for U.S.$10 million and annual payments of $250,000. Later, the Torrijos-Carter Treaty in 1977 committed the U.S. to transfer the control of operations to Panama at the end of 1999. The canal project was designed to take advantage of the regions tropical climate and abundant average rainfall. It harnessed the water of the Chagres River basin to run three sets of lockschambers that, filled with fresh water, act like elevators, lifting or lowering ships to compensate for the difference in water levels between the two oceans. To ensure enough water would be available for the locks, the canals designers changed the shapes of the regions mountains and rivers to create a large watershedover 1,325 square miles (3,435 square kilometers)that drains toward the canals human-made lakes, Gatun and Alajuela. About 65% of the water that flows from the watershed today goes to operate the locks. The majority of that water is quickly lost to the oceans. Even the two newest locks, built in 2016, only reuse about 60% of water on each transit40% is flushed to avoid saltwater from the oceans intruding into the watershed. Threats to water security Panamas wet tropical weather is predominantly influenced by its location near the equator, the trade winds, and the oceans. Most of its rain falls during the wet season, from May to November. However, weather records show a drop in average precipitation starting around 1950. The driest years resulted in dangerously low water levels in Gatun Lake that made canal operations difficult, including in 1998, 2016, and most recently 20232024. El Nio weather patterns can mean particularly low rainfall. In December 2023, the Panama Canal Authority was forced to limit the number of daily transits to 22, compared with 36 to 38 usual crossings, because too little freshwater was available. Water levels at Gatun Lake since 1965 show how low 2023 and 2024 were. [Image: EIA] To avoid steep financial losses, the Panama Canal Authority raised prices and auctioned transit opportunities to the highest bidders. Without those measures, the authority estimated it would lose $100 million a month from reduced ship traffic because of the water shortage. Ecosystems also need enough water, and changes in forest tree composition have become evident on Barro Colorado Island in Gatun Lake in response to rising temperatures and more frequent droughts. Climate change is also creating greater variability in rainfall. Too much rain can also be a problem for canal operations. In December 2010, the biggest storm on record caused landslides and $150 million in damage that interrupted transits on the canal. Sustaining Panamas canal and its people Temporary measures for saving water have been already implemented. The Panama Canal Authority shortened the chamber size in some of its locks to use less water for smaller vessels and minimized direction changes. In January 2025, the authority approved plans to build the new dam on the Indio River to increase water available for the canal. The dam could solve some water concerns during drier periods for the canal. However, it also illustrates the countrys water conflicts. Once filled, the dams reservoir will submerge over 1,200 homes by some counts, and more people in the region will lose access to land and travel routes. The Panama Canal Authority promises that residents will be relocated, but some of those living in the region fear they will lose their livelihoods, along with the communities their families have lived in for generations. Residents across Panama, meanwhile, regularly hear media campaigns that encourage them to save water. An Environmental Economic Incentives Program promotes forest conservation and sustainable family agriculture to conserve water resources. The Panama Canal is a crucial part of international trade, and it will face more periods of water stress. I believe responding to those future changes, as well as market and societal demands, will require innovative solutions that respect ecosystem limits and the needs of the population. Karina Garcia is a researcher and lecturer in climate at Universidad Tecnol�gica de Panam�. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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