China VS USA Tariffs – The Latest


Over the past year, the world’s two largest economies have been locked in a bitter trade battle over the tariff of goods. China and the US imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods. According to BBC, ‘The US has imposed tariffs on some $250bn (£204.5bn) of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated with tariffs on $110bn of US products.’ This trade war has affected many companies globally and may continue to do so.

What Started the Trade War?

According to Wikipedia, ‘On July 10, 2018, U.S. released an initial list of the additional $200 billion of Chinese goods that would be subject to a 10% tariff.’ As you can imagine, this clearly annoyed China. We know that China was not happy with these tariffs as two days later, China vowed to retaliate with additional tariffs on American goods worth $60 billion annually.

So, What Happens Now?

Day by day the tariff war seems to be more fuelled by social media as well as paper headlines. On August 23rd, Donald J. Trump, the President of the US tweeted ‘China should not have put new Tariffs on 75 BILLION DOLLARS of United States product (politically motivated!). Starting on October 1st, the 250 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, currently being taxed at 25%, will be taxed at 30%…’. According to BBC, stock markets in the US fell following news of China’s tariffs, but then recovered, only to fall again in response to Mr Trump’s tweets. Now, the current trade tariff situation seems to be going nowhere but intensifying. “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them,” Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump has told American companies to start looking for an alternative to China. According to BBC, both sides have threatened to take more action with new tariffs. Trump has also announced that existing 25% tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports will increase to 30% on 1 October 2019.

At this moment in time, I can’t see this cooling down anytime soon!

What Can I Do to Prevent This Affecting Me?

If you are based in the US, I would advise contacting US based manufactures to purchase your products from rather than China to avoid these tariffs. On the other hand, if you are based in China, I would recommend sticking with Chinse based manufactures.

However, if you decide to carry on doing business with manufactures / suppliers within the US and China divisions, you may have to accept losing a certain percentage of profit due to the tariffs. However, you are likely to retain customers by keeping your pricing the same. However, if you increase your pricing due to these tariffs taking a certain percentage of your profit away, you may risk losing customers because of the price increase.

In my opinion, I would source products else where from China and the US to avoid these tariffs.

By Amy Leary


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