16-06-2025
Can shoes be made in the US without cheap labour?
For companies like Keen and Oka, making shoes in America requires patience, investment, and innovation. The question is whether they - and others - can scale production under the protectionist policies now in place.
Mr Harward says there is definitely more interest in local manufacturing because of tariffs, noting that the supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic also spurred greater interest in reshoring. But he is sceptical that tariffs alone will drive a wholesale return.
"It would probably take 10 years of pretty high tariffs to give people incentives to do it," says Mr Harward. Even then, he believes the industry might realistically see only about 6% of production return to US soil.
As for Keen, plans that began over a decade ago, are coming to fruition. It is the kind of patient investment only a family business can afford.
"We are a private, values-led company," Mr Perumal explains. "We're able to do these types of decisions without having to have to worry about quarter after quarter results."
Still, even for companies who are already making shoes in America, the reality of modern manufacturing is that it is difficult to simply reverse decades of globalisation.
Keen's new factory is not a signal of a return to the past, but a glimpse of what the future of American manufacturing might look like - one where technology and tradition intersect.
