Columbia Sportswear CEO on tariffs: ‘We need some surety’

In a Wednesday interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle said his company needs more clarity about global tariff decisions in order to plan for what’s to come.

“It’s a dampening effect,” he said. “But, more importantly, we need some surety about what is going to happen, what’s the future.”

President Donald Trump has moved swiftly to deliver on his campaign promises to inflate tariffs for some of the U.S.’s biggest trading partners, raises taxes on goods from China by 10%. He also raised taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada by 25%, but agreed to temporarily pause the hikes for a month.

Boyle said tariffs are designed to raise the price of imported products. The sportswear company is one of the largest duty payers in the U.S., he said, and its commodities are tariffed highly already, with some products carrying 37.5% duties. According to Boyle, Columbia doesn’t import much from China into the U.S., but he said China is an important part of business, as it’s where the company produces products to distribute locally and in other countries. He said it’s necessary to be “incredibly cautious” going forward, as it’s unclear where the tariffs will appear and how much they will be, even as he said his company is good at navigating such a challenge.

While Columbia has seen strength in China and other countries, Boyle said the company is focused on beefing up business in North America. Columbia reported a mixed quarter Tuesday night and issued soft guidance, with shares dipping during Wednesday’s session to finish down 5.70%. Boyle stressed that the company will be spending an “incredible” amount of time and effort to return its North American business back to growth, just as it has done for other regions in the past.

 “If we think about historically, when we’ve underperformed in an area, let’s call China and, and Europe underperforming areas from a historical perspective,” Boyle said. “We’ve worked diligently on those areas, we’ve seen growth, and, frankly, we need to be putting the same sort of rigor around our North America business.”