U.S. tariffs threaten Cowboy Boot industry

August 15, 2025 (MLN): The manufacture of iconic “made in the USA” cowboy boots faces a setback following President Donald Trump’s 30% tariffs on South African exports, which took effect in August.

Texas’s leading bootmakers, including Lucchese, Justin, and Rios of Mercedes, rely exclusively on ostrich leather sourced from Oudtshoorn, a small town in South Africa’s Little Karoo valley, about 400 kilometres east of Cape Town.

Known as the world’s “ostrich capital,” Oudtshoorn is home to hundreds of thousands of residents and an equal number of the large flightless birds, as APP reported.

Local ostrich farmer Laubscher Coetzee voiced uncertainty over the tariffs’ impact, stating, “We just don’t know how bad the impact will be, but positive it wouldn’t be,” after South Africa failed to secure a new trade deal with the U.S. administration.

Nearly 200 farmers around Oudtshoorn, organised under the Cape Karoo International (CKI) group, produce more than half of the world’s ostrich-derived goods, including feathers, leather, and meat, according to CKI managing director Francois de Wet.

South Africa accounts for about 70% of global production, supplying luxury handbag makers in France and Italy, as well as shipping 20% of its ostrich leather to high-end Texas boot manufacturers, where pairs often sell for several hundred dollars.

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