By
BERNARD CONDONAssociated Press
Ivanka Trump is shutting down her fashion line of dresses, shoes and
handbags that became a target of political boycotts and spurred
concerns about conflicts of interest after her father was elected.
The president’s daughter said in a statement she made the decision so
she could focus more on work as a White House adviser. She had stepped
away from the day-to-day management of her company when she joined
President Donald Trump’s administration.
“After
17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to
the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future
will be the work I am doing here in Washington,” she said. She called
the move the “only fair outcome for my team and partners.”
The Ivanka Trump brand has been buffeted by politics since she joined
the White House early last year. Sales appeared to surge at times due
her celebrity as the U.S. president’s daughter — White House adviser
Kellyanne Conway once urged on Fox News for people to “go buy Ivanka’s
stuff” — only to get battered as those who disliked her father’s
policies urged shoppers to boycott the line.
Nordstrom dropped the Ivanka Trump line last year, citing slowing sales, and recently Hudson Bay reportedly did the same.
The company said that its business was strong, and the decision to
shut down had nothing do with its performance. Shutting down the brand
means 18 people will lose their jobs.
Analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said
that “while the company is still viable, doing business has become far
more challenging and these problems will only increase.”
Ivanka Trump recently has been encouraging U.S. companies to pledge
to hire American workers. Her own company has been criticized for making
its products in Chinese factories, for the conditions in those
factories, and for being granted trademarks by foreign governments such
as China that would want to curry favor with the president.
Her announcement comes amid a worsening trade fight between the
United States and China. President Trump is seeking to drive China to
the negotiating table and rectify what he sees as years of unfair trade
practices.
The White House has imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports
and has itemized a list of $200 billion more in goods that may face
tariffs by September. Neither of those tariffs would cover the clothing
and handbags Ivanka Trump sells. But if the president were to make good
on his threat to tax all $500 billion in Chinese imports, that would
raise the price of everything her company imports from that country.
Since it is a private company, it is difficult to judge just how well
Ivanka Trump’s business has been faring. The bulk of her assets —more
than $50 million worth — is contained in a trust that holds her business
and corporations. The trust generated over $5 million in revenue last
year, according to a financial disclosure report filed with the
government.
When Ivanka Trump joined the White House as adviser to her father,
she agreed to several restrictions so that her financial interest in the
business would not conflict with her public role as a White House
adviser.
Still, the company drew criticism for benefiting from her White House ties.
In April last year, the Chinese government granted her company
provisional approval for three new trademarks, the same day she and her
husband Jared Kushner dined with the president of China and his wife at
President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The approvals have continued. In
three months through May this year, China granted final approval for 13
of her trademarks and provisional approval for another eight.
Ivanka Trump’s company has said the 2017 Chinese trademarks were
filed defensively to protect against squatters using her name. China has
said its trademarks policy regarding Ivanka Trump’s company is in line
with normal legal practice.
The Ivanka Trump brand has also come under criticism for conditions
at factories where its products were made. The Associated Press spoke
with workers last year at an Ivanka Trump shoe factory in Ganzhou,
China, who described long hours, low pay and abuse.
The company said at the time that the “integrity” of its supply chain
was a “top priority” and that it takes such allegations “very
seriously.”
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AP business writers Matt Ott and Christopher Rugaber in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
