Executive chairman of retail group JD Sport, Andy Higginson, has cast doubt on the ability of the US to end its reliance on manufacturing partners in Asia for products including athletic shoes.

He said it did look to him as though the US was intent on becoming “more isolationist”, but added that, for sports shoes, the matter was more complex than manufacturing countries with cheaper labour rates ceasing to be attractive in the face of tariffs.

He explained: “It would be an illusion to think this is just about cheap labour. These countries have invested huge amounts in the technology and the manufacturing capabilities that goes into making these products. It will take a lot to overturn the economics of that.”

What he thinks the likely result will be of tariffs at very high levels is products just becoming more expensive for consumers.