July imports off 11.1% from 1986 month. (nonrubber footwear)

July imports off 11.1% from 1986 month

Imports of nonrubber footwear totaled 87 million pairs in July, 11.1 percent less than the same month last year, according to the Commerce Department.

But Footwear Industries of America (FIA), the trade association for domestic manufacturers and suppliers, pointed out the July 1986 import total of 97.9 million pairs was the second-highest monthly total ever recorded.

The July 1987 decline means that so far this year import growth has been almost flat. During the first seven months of this year, the U.S. imported a total of 593 million pairs of shoes, compared with 589.3 million for the same period in 1986, an …