Today’s guest author is Todd Smith, president and CEO of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
In sports, unforced turnovers can derail even championship-caliber teams. Today, America risks its own unforced turnovers due to the new tariffs in play against Canada, Mexico and China, which threaten to reverse our nation’s progress in physical activity.
The current scoreboard shows remarkable progress from 2022-2024 as it relates to Americans being active (individuals ages 6+ who report participating in at least one sports or fitness related activity during the calendar year), with our national inactivity rate hitting a record low of 20% (61.8M people) in 2024. Yet, like a team giving up possession in the final minutes, proposed new tariffs risk surrendering these hard-fought advances.
Simply review the tape. Following the 2017 tariffs, inactivity rates rose from 81.4 million to 82.1 million Americans in just one year. And more troubling was the impact felt by our most vulnerable teammates: Households earning under $25,000 annually saw inactivity rates surge from 44.6% to 47.4% between 2017 and 2018.
The link between tariffs and increased equipment costs also cannot be ignored. In 2017, equipping a young athlete with basic soccer gear—cleats, shin guards, uniform and a ball—cost a family $115. By 2023, those same items jumped to $167.50, a 46% increase driven heavily by tariffs, which for some imported equipment items can reach as high as 25%.
This cost barrier leads to a drastic participation gap in sports activity rates for America’s youth: In 2023, only 24% of children from households earning under $25,000 regularly participated in sports; this is in stark comparison to 41% of children from households earning $100,000+ regularly participating in sports. When essential sports equipment becomes more expensive due to tariffs, families are forced to the sidelines.
Sports and fitness manufacturers, while proud to produce the equipment that enables healthy activities, cannot shield consumers from increased costs due to tariffs. The game plan should be clear: maintain our momentum in reducing inactivity rates and advancing athletic participation rather than risk costly turnovers. Instead of temporarily pausing new tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, we should abandon their implementation entirely. Our nation’s physical and mental well-being hangs in the balance. Let’s avoid these unforced turnovers in trade policy and keep all Americans in the game.
The Sports & Fitness Industry Association is a global trade association of manufacturers, retailers, and brands in the sports products and fitness industry. SFIA seeks to promote sports and fitness participation, as well as industry vitality through research, thought leadership, public affairs, industry affairs and member services.
