The unusual consequence of the customs taxes of Donald Trump, “made in the US.” Santiags will suffer the 30% rate addressed to South Africa, which produces the overwhelming majority of the popular averucture leather for the manufacture of these boots.
The most prestigious brands in Texas manufacture this American symbol are supplied exclusively in Oudtshoorn, 400 km east of the lid. In this world capital of the ostrich and its surroundings, the number of souls is around that of the volatile: one hundred thousand.
For almost two centuries, ostrich farms have made their nest in this vast plain enclosed by red rocky mountains, Petit Karoo baptized.
Cape Karoo International (CKI), a form of cooperative belonging to approximately 200 breeders in the region, only provides, according to its general manager, more than 55% of the global production of ostrich products. South Africa, goal of attacks by US President for months, has a total of 70%.
Beyond France and Italy, where they provide the big names in the fashion of the skin for the bags, 20% of the CKI leather is exported to the United States, where Santiag’s institutions, such as Lucchese or Justin, separate it from Texas.
The expensive pair is several hundred dollars, or even more.
Ostrich leather
The head of Ríos de Mercedes, another prestigious manufacturer installed in Texas and whose history goes back to 1853, praises ostrich leather in a video of June 2024.
Justin boasts “to make in the United States with materials around the world” and lucse in a press release to AFP said he was “proud to make his boots in his hand in the state of Texas for 141 years”, while sometimes he was looking for borders to find (…) raw materials. “
The climatic specificity of Little Karoo explains the success of local agriculture, estimates that Laubscher Coetzee in front of the dance flames in the fireplace of this property built in 1896 by its great -grandfather.
“There is a reason why the ostrich sector still exists 200 years after its beginnings. People have tried worldwide, in the United States, Australia and even in other parts of South Africa. It is a desert animal,” describes this reproductive specialist, who sells about 600 animals per year to other breeders.
If the ostrich has become the surrounding favorite, it is because the weather does not allow another agricultural activity, with less than 400 mm of rain per year on average. “Everything revolves around the ostriches here. It is a semi-desert region, nothing can push here, there is not enough water,” says Leon Lareman, CKI frame.
Feathered hats
And as it is impossible for South African producers to support the weight of 30% of customs taxes, the Texas manufacturer and the vaquero boots buyer will pay a part of this addition.
These skins, recognizable for feathetic marks, sell for American factories about 20 dollars “square foot” (square foot, 930 cm2).
“We do not provide short -term layoffs,” he says. “But in the long term, if all customs tasks are maintained, this will undoubtedly lead to a decrease in our activity.”
Oudtshoorn already carries the brands of a past crisis: these ostrich palaces, the fusion of Dutch colonial architecture and art nouveau that their owners had had the golden production built at the golden age. Until everything collapses at the end of the apogee in Europe with the arrival of the car, not high enough so that high society can use its feathered hats there.
Source: BFM TV
