The American Apparel & Footwear Association reports that roughly 97% of clothes and shoes sold in the US are imported, mainly from Asia.

Walmart, Gap Inc., Lululemon and Nike are a few of the companies that have a majority of their clothing made in Asian countries.

However, customers who are not used to seeing inflation in the clothing sector, especially after several years of noticeable increases in grocery and housing expenses, might be particularly sensitive to any substantial rise in clothing prices.

According to Priest from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, there has been a noticeable decrease in shoe purchases by consumers since Trump’s administration returned to the White House.

“They’re nervous,” he said. “They’ve obviously been playing the long game as it relates to inflation for a number of years now. And they just don’t have the endurance to absorb higher prices, particularly as they’re inflicted by the US government.”

Winners and losers in a garment trade war

According to a report by British bank Barclays published on Friday, the winners in the tariff wars are retailers that have at least one of these attributes: big negotiating power with their suppliers, a strong brand name and limited sourcing in Asia.

In clothing and footwear, that includes off-price retailers Burlington, Ross Stores Inc. and TJX Companies, which operates TJ Maxx and Marshalls, as well as Ralph Lauren and Dick’s Sporting Goods, according to the report.

The companies in for a tougher time are those with limited negotiating power, limited pricing power and high product exposure in Asia, a list including Gap Inc., Urban Outfitters and American Eagle Outfitters, according to the report.

Secondhand clothing resale site ThredUp cheered a related action Trump took with his latest round of tariffs: eliminating a widely used tax exemption that has allowed millions of low-cost goods — most of them originating in China — to enter the U. every day duty-free.

“This policy change will increase the cost of cheaply produced, disposable clothing imported from China, directly impacting the business model that fuels overproduction and environmental degradation,” ThredUp said.

Several industry analysts and economists said they think tariffs will end up being a consumer sales tax that widens the yawning gap between America’s wealthiest residents and those in the middle and lower end of the income spectrum.

“So where will the US be buying its apparel now that the tariff rates on Bangladesh, Vietnam and China are astronomical?” Mary E. Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said of the schedule set to take effect on Wednesday.

“Will the new ‘Golden Age’ involve knitting our own knickers as well as snapping together our cellphones?”