The much more serious [concern] is if the American consumer has less
money to spend," he said.If the average American customer has less money
to spend, "he or she will spend less money on all products, including
ours," Rorsted added. "That's the worrying one."
Rorsted's comments come about a week after a report showed that U.S.
consumer confidence in September fell more than expected, as the
tit-for-tat trade war between Washington and Beijing weighs on
sentiment.
He also said he was concerned about the devaluation of Chinese currency,
since 25% of Adidas' business is based in China.Beijing in August set
its official reference rate for the yuan at its weakest rate since April
2008, prompting the U.S. Treasury to label China a currency
manipulator.
"That's what we're seeing," Rorsted said on "Squawk Box," in terms of
potential impact. "We're not seeing a slowdown in the manufacturing of
our products."Despite the slowdown in global economic expansion, Rorsted
pointed out that the company "saw very strong second-quarter growth in
China."
The German sportswear company reported disappointing results in August,
though it said it expects a recovery. Rorsted said in August he saw
"very little impact for the consumer" from the trade dispute and was not
too concerned about how the additional tariffs will impact the company.
Adidas is in its quiet period before it reports fiscal third-quarter
numbers, meaning Rorsted on Wednesday could only comment on the
company's second-quarter numbers. The retailer reports earnings Nov. 6.
Last week, Nike, a key competitor, reported that China sales grew 27% in
its past quarter.Nike makes items in China and imports goods into the
country, putting the company in a vulnerable place in the trade war.
However, in an earnings call, Nike CFO Andrew Campion said the "impact
of tariffs will be most pronounced" in the current quarter, but he
expects "continued momentum going forward."
