FiT Publishing

Should football jerseys, pants, and girdles be considered clothing or sporting goods for import tariff purposes? Recently, Riddell challenged the Court of International Trade’s (“CIT”) classification of the importation of such items as articles of apparel (Riddell, Inc. v. United States, 2014). Riddell contended the items should be classified as sports equipment, which creates a lower import tariff for Riddell. In deciding the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Riddell’s argument for the reclassification of the football jerseys and pants but it allowed a different apparel...Read more

While consumers within emerging markets are the largest growth market for global sport apparel brands, relatively little is known about how they perceive these brands. These emerging markets have recently become consumer markets for Western brands, yet they initially served as producing nations. This study examined how this transition affected consumer perceptions on global sport apparel brands. Consumer behavior theories, such as the brand as “Western status symbol,” ethnocentrism, the country of origin effect, and the country of manufacturing effect were all incorporated within this...Read more

We’re not taking this lying down…It’s a war,” warns Ken Barker, director of apparel at Adidas America (Salter, 2005, p. 70). Baker’s statement is in reference to the rapid success in the apparel market by a young and up-and-coming Under Armour brand. The Under Armour brand dominates the performance apparel category so much (with around 75% market share) that the name has become synonymous with the product (Salter, 2005). The consistent growth of total revenue from $115.4 million in 2003 to $607.7 million in 2007 indicates the rapid success that Under Armour has experienced (Think Equity...Read more