Nike shares surged 15% at the opening bell Friday after the company announced a shift in production away from China, even as it warned that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will cost it about $1 billion (roughly Rs 8,300 crore) before internal adjustments take effect.The US sportswear giant said it will begin implementing “surgical” price increases in the US starting this fall, a move that could affect back-to-school shoppers. Walmart had earlier warned of similar seasonal price hikes due to tariffs, AP reported.Nike said about 16% of the footwear it imports into the US is currently made in China, a figure it plans to reduce to the high-single-digit range by the end of fiscal 2026. “Production will be shifted elsewhere to avert looming tariffs,” CFO Matthew Friend told analysts during a Thursday conference call.The announcement came as President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the US and China have signed a trade agreement, though they offered no details. China’s Commerce Ministry also issued a statement confirming “further confirmation of framework details” in the trade talks but did not mention US access to rare earth exports—another sticking point in recent negotiations.Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and Puma were among 76 companies that had petitioned the Trump administration earlier for an exemption on footwear tariffs, warning that new duties would have a major impact “at the cash register for every family,” the AP report said.Nike reported a quarterly profit of $211 million, or 14 cents per share, with revenue totalling $11.1 billion, slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations.But analysts warn the company still faces challenges. “While it’s still the most significant brand in sportswear, a boredom factor seems to have settled over the Nike brand,” wrote Neil Saunders, Managing Director at GlobalData, citing weaker growth in China and rising anti-US sentiment.“Nike is already facing a pullback in spending by Americans, who have grown anxious about the direction of the US economy,” AP noted. The company’s back-to-school price strategy, combined with reduced reliance on Chinese manufacturing, aims to mitigate the expected impact of tariffs while shoring up its core market presence.
