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00:00CAROLINE: RETAIL NUMBERS CONTINUE TO BE AFFECTED THEM ITS NEWLY DELAYED TRADE TALKS. MEANWHILE, LUXURY GOODS ARE LAGGING AS CHINESE CONSUMERS PULLBACK. FOR MORE ON THIS WITHIN THE RETAIL AREA, WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE TRADE IMPACT WITH MORTY SINGER. GREAT TO HAVE YOU. LET ' S TALK ABOUT ARE MERRILY WHAT HAS TAKEN THE MARKET BY STORM TODAY, THE HEADLINE THAT WE HAVE A DELAY IN TARIFFS. SOME GOOD IN PARTICULAR, CHILDREN ' S CLOTHING, FOR EXAMPLE, WILL STILL BE AFFECTED. BUT THE REST, DECEMBER 15. A RELIEF TO RETAILERS? MORTY: PEOPLE WERE CALLING IT THE CHRISTMAS TARIFFS, HOW IT WOULD IMPACT THEIR BUSINESS. ULTIMATELY, IT WAS CONCERNING TOO MANY. BEING THE FOURTH QUARTER, INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO EVERY SINGLE RETAILER IN AMERICA, LET ALONE THE WORLD. IT IS MEANINGFUL THAT IT ' S BEEN MOVED, BUT WE ARE JUST MOVING THE GOALPOSTS, REALLY. SCARLET: CONSUMERS ARE STILL VERY MUCH OF THE MINDSET, THAT AT SOME POINT, THE COST OF THEIR GOODS WILL GET MORE EXPENSIVE. HAVE TARIFFS MADE CERTAIN PARTS ARE RETAIL THAT MUCH LESS APPEALING ON A LONG-TERM BASIS? MORTY: ON THE MERITS, IF YOU LOOK AT HOW PEOPLE ARE SORTING THEIR GOODS, IF YOU LOOK AT PBH, WHO OWNS TOMMY HILFIGER, CALVIN KLEIN, LAST YEAR, 35% OF THEIR PRODUCTS IN CHINA. TODAY, ABOUT 15. MANY ARE MOVING AWAY FROM CHINA. IT IS UP 12% OF THEIR SOURCING. NIKE IS STILL AT 25 PERCENT , AND THEY HAVE MORE PRICING POWER, BUT THEY HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY THERE. CAROLINE: ANOTHER KEY HEADWIND, WE HAVE BEEN REPORTING OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS HOW IT ' S BEEN VERSACI, GIVENCHY, A NUMBER OF OTHER COUNTRIES MAKING FAUX PAS ON THE PART OF THE CHINESE. HOW CAN COMPANIES BE MORE CAREFUL AND ENSURE THAT WHEN THEY MAKE A T-SHIRT, THEY DON ' T MAKE A GROSS ERROR ABOUT HONG KONG OR ACCOUNTING SEPARATE COUNTRIES? MORTY: THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THIS. GUCCI HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE WITH A SWEATER THAT LOOKED SOMEWHAT LIKE BLACKFACE, CAUSED A HUGE SENSATION THIS YEAR. THE NOTION OF INCLUSIVITY AND AWARENESS OF DIFFERENT CULTURES IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR COMPANIES TO FOCUS ON. ULTIMATELY, IF YOU ARE STUCK IN NEW YORK CITY OR MILAN, YOU HAVE AN INSULAR VIEW OF THE WORLD. IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT CHINA, IT ' S ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE ' S PASSIONS ARE, WHEREVER THEY MAY BE. AS WE SEE IN THE UNITED STATES, THOSE PASSIONS AND THE ELEVATED AROUND THINGS THAT ARE POLITICAL, GUN RIGHTS, ANY NUMBER OF POLITICAL ISSUES. SCARLET: BECAUSE OF THAT, WILL PEOPLE BE LESS WILLING TO BUY LUXURY BRANDS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES? DO YOU SEE A NATIONALISM TAKING ROOT WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLE ' S WILLINGNESS TO AFFILIATE THEMSELVES WITH CERTAIN BRANDS? MORTY: IF YOU LOOK AT THE CHINESE MARKET, THE LUXURY GOODS BUSINESS IS DOMINATED BY INTERNATIONAL TRADERS WHO ARE PLAYING THERE. IT IS MORE ABOUT WHETHER THEY MOVED TO ANOTHER EUROPEAN OR AMERICAN BRAND. I DON ' T SEE THEM BOYCOTTED THE WEST, AS IT WERE. ALSO, THAT SORT OF MATURITY OF THE CHINESE CONSUMER AND THE CONSUMPTION HAPPENING THERE HAS REALLY BEEN FAR MORE ACCELERATED THAN IN THE WEST. THEY ARE AN INCREDIBLY SOPHISTICATED CONSUMER, AND WILL MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD ON THE VARIOUS SOCIAL PLATFORMS THAT ARE OUT THERE. IT IS SOMETHING THAT ONE HAS TO BE INCREASINGLY AWARE OF. GUCCI JUST HIRED A HEAD OF INCLUSIVITY ACROSS THEIR BUSINESSES, IN ORDER TO FIX THIS PROBLEM WITHIN THEIR COMPANY. MANY OTHERS WILL FOLLOW SUIT. CAROLINE: LAST QUICK QUESTION WHICH PIVOTS AWAY FROM THE CHINA AND GEO-POLITICIZATION OF THIS, MORE TO COMPANIES DISRUPTING THE LUXURY EVERY AREA. THE REAL REAL REPORTING SOME LOUSY NUMBERS. WHERE DO YOU SEE THESE E-COMMERCE PLAYERS DOING WELL, AND WILL -- MORTY: THE TECH WORLD HAS THE FAANGS. IN THE RETAILING INDUSTRY, I CALL THEM THE FURS. THIS IS SORT OF THE INNOVATION TRIBE, THE GUYS THAT ARE TRIED TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. WHILE THE MODEL, WHICH NEEDS TO BE QUITE PURE, AND NOT MUDDIED BY DIFFERENT BUSINESSES, I DO BELIEVE THE REAL REAL, $700 MILLION IN THIS LAST SESSION, HAS A $200 BILLION ADDRESSABLE MARKET. ULTIMATELY, FOR THEM, WHILE THERE COULD BE TURBULENCE NOW, THE LONG-TERM VIEW OR THOSE BUSINESSES IS REALLY TO WATCH WHAT THEY DO AS INNOVATORS IN RETAIL. SCARLET: MORTY SINGER, THANK YOU. REAL REAL WILL BE REPORTING

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Marvin Traub CEO Mortimer Singer on Tariff Delays in the Retail Sector

Mortimer Singer, CEO of Marvin Traub Associates, discusses the impact of tariff delays on retail. He speaks with Scarlet Fu and Caroline Hyde on "Bloomberg Markets: The Close." (Source: Bloomberg)