The moment that all the snakeheads feared for is here. The news started in April when the tariffs were imposed on key manufacturers of sportswear and apparel, including Vietnam and Indonesia. Many predicted that this would lead to global giants like Nike, Adidas to increase their prices. Now, a report confirms the same, and this would include Michael Jordan’s brand as well. Certainly, the fans are not happy about this one bit.

Over the years, big brands like Nike have been trying to ease their reliance on Chinese factories. They found safer ground in Southeast Asia, but the tariff issues will hit those markets too. Vietnam was slammed with a 46 percent tariff rate, Cambodia got 49 percent, Bangladesh 37 percent, and Indonesia 32 percent. Soon, this will reflect in the customer’s final bill.

“The price of your Nikes is about to go up, but not by too much. So, Nike communicated to retailers this week that it’s hiking prices due to expected inflation. Sources tell Complex that Nike plans to increase prices between $2 and $10 starting in June. There are some exclusions. Prices on all kids’ footwear and apparel, and any footwear under $100 won’t be going up. Jordan apparel and Air Force Ones are excluded, too.”

The video from Complex explained how there will be an increase, but it should be only a moderate one. Instead of citing tariffs and POTUS for the change, Nike simply stated economic conditions. “Why is this happening? Sources tell us that Nike is citing economic conditions, which we’re taking as code for President Trump’s tariffs. After all, these changes are only impacting America.” Fans in the comment section added, “Good thing I’m retiring from collecting shoes 💸.”

This sentiment has been going on for some time, and it once affected Nike’s stock market as well. Last month, the shares were hanging by a thread at $55.58, scraping lows not touched since December 2017. For the last 6 months, the trend is in red with -14.72% as per finance.yahoo.com.

The fans are upset with Nike and the Michael Jordan brand

Let’s not forget, this was the year when the Swoosh celebrated its 40th anniversary to celebrate the Air Jordan. The whole banable campaign was brought to light with commercials and even the gimmick of masking the shoe of the Michael Jordan statue outside the Bulls Arena. But even then, the pricing for the shoe seemed way off.  $250 for a Jordan 1, it seemed to have the wrong nerves of the fans.

“Nikes been ripping ppl off. Shoe prices have gone up substantially since 2012. Quality hasnt even gotten better. Older js lasted way longer.” This sentiment of netizens can be traced to the price of Air Force 1 Low increasing to $100 in 2022. So, despite the tariff rule now, Nike is seemingly increasing the prices already. That’s when a fan ranted about the malpractice that might come into the picture.

“What will happen is Nike sneakers will have 30% tariff coming into the country, in return they will raise the price of the sneaker double the tariff and then blame the tariff on the increase.” As per the video, customers will see the price hikes starting in June. Then July, when Nike’s fall season goes into effect, the prices are going to go up for the retailers too. They’ll have to start paying higher wholesale prices when they’re buying from Nike. That’s why another simply called out the brand, “Not a smart move at all! Greed never wins @Nike.”

The athleisure brand is suffering from losses net income dropping 26% to $1.16 billion. The reported revenue remained $12.4 billion, which is why a fan questioned if the tariffs are actually affecting the brand. “Nike can afford to take the L they not broke smh.” Nobody wants to pay more for their sneakers. And this is happening very soon, whether you like it or not.