by Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This article was produced in partnership with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

In May 2015, President Barack Obama gave a big speech about dropping trade barriers with other nations. He delivered it on a sunny day at Nike’s world headquarters in Oregon.

“Sometimes when we talk about trade, we think of Nike,” Obama said, before making his pitch for a trade deal with Asian countries that he described as the “highest-standard, most progressive trade deal in history.”

President Donald Trump canceled that deal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, less than two years later.

Now, as Trump erects more trade barriers in his second administration, Nike once again is center stage in conversations about globalization, a familiar place for a company that has its roots importing Japanese track shoes and briefly made sneakers in the United States.

Last month, Trump announced sweeping tariffs that would slam imports from the countries where most Nike sneakers and apparel get made. A close look at Nike’s massive supply chain offers a case study in the possible ripple effects of the escalating global trade war and shows how vulnerable factory workers could get squeezed.

Some degree of taxation on imports has long been a feature of international garment trade, and Nike has decades of experience navigating these tariffs. The company has not spoken about how it will handle the current round under Trump, but it’s among 76 companies that signed a letter to the president last week warning about dire consequences for footwear companies unless there is tariff relief.

In response to questions about how tariffs might impact factory workers, Nike said in a statement it is “committed to ethical and responsible manufacturing.”

“We build long-term relationships with our contract manufacturing suppliers because we know having trust and mutual respect supports our ability to create product more responsibly, accelerate innovation and better serve consumers,” the statement said.

Nike doesn’t own or operate the overseas........

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