 "Gantry cranes stand near a cargo ship at Yangshan Port outside of Shanghai, China. Trump on Monday imposed an additional tariff across all Chinese goods, hiking the rate to 20 per cent. File image/Reuters")
Heightened trade tensions between China and the US have spooked Chinese exporters who are reportedly abandoning shipments mid-voyage to avoid Trump’s sweeping tariff costs. China has been singled out by the US president after he paused retaliatory tariffs for most nations on Wednesday.
A report by South China Morning Post says that industry insiders are bracing for “the Long March”, a metaphor used for anticipating more trouble in cross-Pacific trade due to Trump’s tariff measures.
The heightened tariffs against China took effect at the same time Thursday as retaliatory levies of 84 percent slapped on by Beijing on US imports.
China’s commerce ministry warned the tariffs risked “severely” impacting the global economy, but stressed that “the door to dialogue is open”.
Shipments halted
An employee at a China-listed export firm reported that the number of containers shipped daily to the US had dropped sharply—from 40 to 50 down to only 3 to 6—due to the impact of the new tariffs.
“We’ve halted all shipping plans from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Every factory order is halted. Anything that hasn’t been loaded will be scrapped, and the cargo already at sea is being re-costed,” the employee told SCMP.
One client had informed the company that they are leaving goods on the water and handing them over to the shipping organisation as “no one will buy them after the tariffs are imposed”.
The company then returned to China to handle a barrage of cancellations, following which it instructed its staff not to take any more orders and suspend operations until tariffs stabilise.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“The loss on every container we ship is now greater than the profit we used to make from shipping two. Who’s going to keep doing this?” the employee added.
China asks US to meet ‘halfway’ on tariffs
China on Thursday urged the United States to meet it “halfway” as US President Donald Trump imposed more levies on Chinese goods but, in a huge relief to global markets, paused tariffs on other countries.
“We hope the US will meet China halfway, and, based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, properly resolve differences through dialogue and consultation,” Commerce Ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian said.