Columbia’s Tariff Plans Includes Absorbing Some Costs as Company Emphasizes Value as Competitive Advantage

Columbia Sportswear has a 2025 game plan in place against the backdrop of tariff increases, but 2026 is the big question mark. “Our industry has never faced a period where the rules and regulations around trade with the United States are simply unknown and unknowable,” Columbia’s chairman, president and CEO Timothy P. Boyle told investors in an earnings conference call Thursday. Despite the uncertainties, Boyle said the company is well-positioned to handle the impact from the 10 percent universal tariff increase. He said that even before the April 2 announcement of reciprocal tariffs, the outdoor sports apparel and footwear company was already making changes to its inventory mix, including accelerating shipments during the 90-day tariff pause. And while he noted that “well over 90 percent of all apparel and footwear” is imported in the U.S. and already heavily taxed under legacy trade laws, the CEO also emphasized that it has very little direct exposure on products from China. Under U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plan, duties on some items from China — which are not part of the 90-day pause — can run as high as 145 percent. Boyle said that China remains a strategically important country for Columbia, and the company

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