Chinese companies, workers, and industry insiders have reported being caught in a bind by the escalating U.S. tariffs, as usual orders are not coming in, and some companies are being compelled to take extreme measures.
While Chinese social media is flooded with anti-U.S. propaganda and nationalist content, posts and videos warning of mass layoffs and prolonged “vacations” offer some indication of the unease spreading throughout an export-driven economy already struggling with high unemployment, shrinking profits, and declining foreign investment.
In addition, Beijing on April 14 restricted the export of seven types of rare earth products critical for high-tech and military manufacturing in the United States and other countries.
According to a White House fact sheet published on April 15, some Chinese products may now face U.S. tariffs of up to 245 percent.
Trump has cited unfair trade practices and illegal drug trafficking as reasons for imposing the levies on Chinese goods.
Washington, particularly starting with the first Trump administration, has long called out the Chinese regime for decades of distortionary and protectionist economic policies, as well as rampant industrial espionage.
Trump also criticized Beijing for failing to curb the production and export of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, which often entered the United States through Mexico.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in a December 2024 press release that more than 107,000 people died from drug overdose in 2023, with nearly 70 percent of those deaths linked to opioids such as fentanyl.
Li Meng-chü, a Taiwanese businessman, told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times that the heightened U.S. tariffs will force a significant number of export-oriented factories in China to scale back their businesses or close entirely.
The owner of a factory that makes flashlights in the city of Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, told The Epoch Times that while export companies used to place three or four bulk orders with the factory a month, business has completely dried up as of late. Many workers who used to work six days a week now take three or four days off.
Li, the Taiwanese businessman, said that to his knowledge, factories in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong that produce electronics, garments, and lighting that had U.S. orders placed through to the end of the year, have now seen those orders abruptly canceled. Much stock has been left sitting in the factories.
The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based English-language outlet, reported on April 10 that some Chinese exporters have opted to surrender their cargo to the shipping companies mid-voyage rather than deal with the new tariffs.
“No one will buy them after the tariffs are imposed,” the publication quoted one client as saying to a Chinese exporter.
Mainland Chinese outlet Caixin reported that the port of Shanghai—normally bustling with ships—was virtually empty on the day after the United States imposed its 145 percent tariff. The outlet expects U.S.–China shipping to fall by half in the near future.
In the wake of the tariff hikes, Chinese fashion giant Shein attempted to shift some of its production out of China, but was barred from doing so by the Chinese authorities.
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