- As Washington-Beijing trade tensions flare, Chinese manufacturers are scrambling for ways to adjust their supply chains and head off the escalating tariffs.
- Unlike the last U.S.-China trade war, Chinese companies may now hold off their relocation plans due to the unpredictability of tariffs, Lynn Song, chief China economist at ING said.
- Trump’s tariff agenda in his second term has extended beyond just China. His administration has pressed ahead with 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and warned of further tariffs on any country that enjoyed a significant trade surplus with the U.S.
- As Washington-Beijing trade tensions flare, Chinese manufacturers are scrambling for ways to adjust their supply chains and head off the escalating tariffs.
- U.S. President Donald Trump’s additional 10% tariffs on goods from China took effect Tuesday, bringing the cumulative new tariffs in just about a month to 20%.
- The fresh tariffs also came on top of several existing tariffs on Chinese imports, put in place under the Biden administration, including 100% duty on electric vehicles, 50% on solar cells and 25% on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and key minerals.
- The average effective U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods is set to hit 33%, up from around 13% before Trump began his latest term in January, according to estimates from Nomura’s Chief China economist Ting Lu.
- China on Tuesday retaliated to U.S. tariffs with additional tariffs of up to 15% on select U.S. goods and restricted exports to 15 U.S. companies. The measures are set to come into force from March 10.
- “It will be a survival game for Chinese companies, [as] their bottom line will be affected,” Edwin Tan, general manager at global logistics firm Asian Tigers China, told CNBC.
- A number of business owners that engaged in selling goods to the U.S. took to various social media platforms to voice concerns about the mounting tariffs. Some posted screenshots of emails from U.S. clients requesting to cut prices and failure to do so would lead to cancellation of existing orders.
