The German sportswear company Adidas said on Tuesday that the increase in tariffs would lead to higher prices for its sneakers and sportswear for U.S. customers.
“Since we currently cannot produce almost any of our products in the U.S., these higher tariffs will eventually cause higher costs for all our products for the U.S. market,” Bjorn Gulden, the company’s chief executive, said Tuesday on a call with analysts.
Mr. Gulden said Adidas had sent extra inventory to the United States to clear customs before tariffs took effect, but he added that the company would eventually feel President Trump’s 10 percent base-line duty increase for all imports.
“Cost increases due to higher tariffs will eventually cause price increases,” he said. “But it is currently impossible to quantify these or to conclude what impact this could have on the consumer demand for our products.”
Adidas also rerouted some products that were made in China and destined for the United States to other markets, which are expected to become more important for the company in the wake of the growing trade war between the global superpowers.
U.S. sales in the first three months of the year increased just 3 percent, because of the phasing out of the last sneakers in the popular Yeezy line, which were developed with the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, as part of a collaboration that ended in 2022.
In Europe, sales increased 14 percent in the first three months of the year, while sales in China grew 13 percent.
The company, which is based in Herzogenaurach in southern Germany, said that it was refraining from issuing a profit outlook for the full year, citing the unpredictability that tariffs have caused, which affect many countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam, where Adidas produces many of its shoes and sportswear.
“In a ‘normal world,” Mr. Gulden said, the company’s first-quarter results would have led it to raise the outlook for revenue and operating profit for 2025, but “the uncertainty regarding the U.S. tariffs has currently put a stop to this.”
