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Portland - Sports shoe maker Nike has put its weight behind President Barack Obama's push for a trade deal with Asian countries with a promise to create up to 10 000 US-based manufacturing jobs if the pact is approved.
In an announcement that coincided with a visit by Obama to Nike's Oregon headquarters, the company said footwear tariff relief within the proposed 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement would allow it to speed up investment in "advanced footwear manufacturing" in the United States.
Obama is pressing the US Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority, which would enable him to negotiate international trade deals without the threat of changes by lawmakers.
If TPA is passed and the deal is sealed, Nike said, it would accelerate its US investments and spur as many as 10 000 domestic manufacturing and engineering jobs, thousands of construction jobs and up to 40 000 jobs elsewhere in its supply chain over 10 years.
Nike has 26 000 employees in the United States and more than 1 million workers in 700 contract factories worldwide that manufacture its shoes. Its top-end soccer and baseball shoes retail for more than $300 (about R3 600).
