2026 SHOE SOURCING SHIFTS WEBINAR

Thursday, March 26, 2026 • 2 PM ET

Agenda

Welcome & Objectives – Matt Priest, President & CEO, FDRA

• Why this matters now: Sourcing concentration, chemical regulation acceleration, digital traceability requirements
• What you will hear: Market Data Overview, Supply Chain Strategy, Country Deep Dive, Chemical & Regulatory Outlook

Top-Level U.S. Footwear Import Data & Trends – Gary Raines, Chief Economist, FDRA

• Current Top 10 sourcing countries
• Year-over-year volume and value shifts
• China share trajectory vs Southeast Asia growth
• Nearshoring signals (Mexico)
• Premium EU sourcing trends + South America

Supply Chain Outlook & Strategic Implications + Q&A – Linda Moran, Sr. Manager, Customs Compliance, Apex Logistics

• 2026–2028 Supply Chain Outlook
• Cost benchmarking, lead time compression, supplier diversification planning

Country-by-Country Deep Dive + Q&A – Gary Raines, Chief Economist, FDRA

• China: Share trend, tariff exposure, automation ecosystem, political risk concentration
• Vietnam: Athletic/performance strength, capacity pressures, component import dependency, policy sensitivity
• Indonesia: Growth trajectory, labor competitiveness, infrastructure/logistics variables
• Cambodia: Low-cost positioning, compliance scrutiny, material sourcing constraints
• Bangladesh: Cost leader positioning, social compliance focus, infrastructure constraints
• India: Scale potential, lead time variability, industrial policy momentum
• Mexico: Speed-to-market advantage, higher labor costs, nearshoring economics
• Brazil: Regional trade advantages, currency volatility.

Chemical & Regulatory Landscape — Q&A – Pratik Ichhaporia, Vice President, Technical Services, Eurofins

EU Focus:

• REACH expansion and SVHC updates
• PFAS restrictions accelerating across member states
• Microplastics restrictions
• Heavy metals and azo dye enforcement
• Digital Product Passport (DPP): material traceability, chemical disclosure, systems integration challenges
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks for textiles and footwear
• Supply chain due diligence requirements (CSDDD) and documentation expectations
• Eurofins support: chemical testing strategy, supplier screening, DPP data validation, managing multi-country compliance complexity

U.S. Focus:

• State-level PFAS bans (CA, NY, etc.)
• TSCA enforcement trends
• Growing patchwork chemical disclosure complexity
• Compliance moving upstream into sourcing decisions and vendor qualification

Executive Close