While President Donald Trump rallies the American stock market and narrows the scope of his active tariffs to fall largely on China, factories foundational to the communist country’s hope for a continued economic boom are receiving horrible news.
The true nightmare for the foreign factories began with Trump’s April 9 Truth Social post revealing a 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs for countries that have agreed to sit in good faith at the negotiating table.
In the same announcement, the president noted China’s “lack of respect” for world markets and raised that country’s tariffs to an eye-watering 125 percent.
“At some point, hopefully in the near future,” Trump wrote, “China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”
The sharp increase comes after weeks of economic dueling between the United States and China.
According to the Associated Press, the first two tariffs Trump levied against products from China were 10 percent each.
After that, a hike of 34 percent was enacted. Another 50 percent was added to that amount, bringing the total tariff on Chinese goods to 104 percent.
Minutes after the 50 percent increase, phones in China began to ring with brutal news.
According to The Wall Street Journal, as that tariff took effect, customers called to cancel orders or seek deep discounts on products from the Chinese factories.
Should Trump keep these tariffs against Chinese goods?
Factory owner Chen Qingxin received a call from a client in Maryland canceling a March order that was expected to be fulfilled in June. Chen’s factory produces toys and other novelties largely for export.
It’s estimated that shipments from China bound for the United States will be reduced by half if the current tariffs last for years.
Another export-focused Chinese factory owner, Chen Qirun, deals in PVC pipes. According to the Journal, Chen’s customers have asked for discounts ranging between 8 percent to 30 percent.
It’s not just American small businesses looking for relief with their Chinese suppliers.
Bloomberg reported that online retail juggernaut Amazon is canceling orders for Chinese-made merchandise. So far, the cancellations include orders for lawn chairs, scooters, air conditioners, and presumably other expected shipments of Chinese junk.
Although the notifications from Amazon did not mention tariffs, the fact that the unexpected cancellations came in only after Trump began sharply hiking duties against Chinese goods hints that rising costs are driving these decisions.
As it stands, our country is reliant on a communist industrial power for everything from cheap raw materials to inexpensive goods and commodities.
The transfer in wealth across the Pacific over the last few decades has only served to hollow out American industry while strengthening a country that routinely brutalizes its own people. The Asian superpower often uses its income to scatter, murder, or otherwise make problematic minorities in the country disappear.
Trump’s tariffs will hurt in the short term, there’s no doubt about it.
Yet it’s important to remember that Trump isn’t doing this to flip the board over and walk away from the game, but to reset America’s economic entanglement with the world to a fair and just relationship.
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