00:00:03
last month I took an order for a batch
00:00:05
of copper parts i've already bought all
00:00:07
the materials it cost tens of thousands
00:00:09
and everything has been cut ground
00:00:12
washed and engraved it's not finished
00:00:14
yet but today the customer messaged me
00:00:16
and said the delivery might be delayed
00:00:18
after customs clearance the taxes have
00:00:20
gone up too much a Tik Tocker who works
00:00:23
as a bulk trade supplier shared in his
00:00:25
video the huge pressure he's under after
00:00:27
the sudden increase in US tariffs
00:00:33
our orders are worth over $50 million US
00:00:38
this year we're already booked through
00:00:40
May
00:00:41
2026 but with this 30% tariff hike the
00:00:44
impact on us is huge if you're a small
00:00:47
startup it's not such a big deal because
00:00:50
you don't ship enough to fill an entire
00:00:52
container but for us it hits hard our
00:00:56
profit margins in bulk trading are
00:00:58
already razor thin now with a 34% tariff
00:01:02
it's like getting knocked to the ground
00:01:04
he said the only thing he can do for now
00:01:06
is wait his backup plan is to ship
00:01:08
through third party warehouses in other
00:01:10
countries that's the only way forward on
00:01:13
April 7th the owner of a clothing
00:01:15
factory posted a video saying the entire
00:01:17
foreign trade apparel industry in China
00:01:19
is filled with anxiety
00:01:23
everyone doing foreign trade now is
00:01:25
nervous a 50% tariff is just scary who's
00:01:29
going to place orders under these
00:01:31
conditions sure some clothing businesses
00:01:34
are still busy but it's hard to make
00:01:36
money
00:01:37
anymore us orders only make up part of
00:01:40
our business but there are so many
00:01:41
clothing factories in China if we all
00:01:44
turn to Europe and there's no US orders
00:01:46
then think about it won't competition at
00:01:49
home become even worse domestic sales
00:01:52
are also weak this year people just
00:01:54
don't have money to spend so how can
00:01:56
this market possibly improve on April
00:01:59
2nd US President Donald Trump announced
00:02:02
a new round of global base tariffs
00:02:04
raising rates on dozens of countries at
00:02:07
the time of the announcement the actual
00:02:08
tariff rate for China stood at 34%
00:02:17
in response the Chinese Communist Party
00:02:20
announced on April 4th that it would
00:02:21
impose a matching 34% tariff on all
00:02:24
goods imported from the US trump then
00:02:27
warned that he may raise tariffs on
00:02:28
China by another 50% the CCP responded
00:02:31
by saying it's ready to fight to the end
00:02:34
while the Chinese government is showing
00:02:35
a tough stance many businesses in China
00:02:37
are already feeling the pain on April
00:02:40
7th a Tik Tocker filmed a clothing
00:02:42
factory that had shut down and said the
00:02:44
clothing industry is in serious trouble
00:02:47
all the machines in his factory are
00:02:48
about to stop he said "This year is
00:02:51
going to be incredibly tough." That same
00:02:53
day another Tik Tocker posted a similar
00:02:55
scene workers moving goods around inside
00:02:57
a clothing factory he wrote that as soon
00:03:00
as the US swung its tariff hammer the
00:03:02
impact finally hit the apparel industry
00:03:04
his factory originally had orders
00:03:06
scheduled through the end of July but
00:03:08
now over 6,000 down jackets have been
00:03:10
put on hold and the ready to ship
00:03:12
products are piling up in the warehouse
00:03:14
he said both offline and online sales
00:03:17
are struggling this year even live
00:03:19
stream selling isn't working anymore
00:03:21
with sluggish consumer demand and weak
00:03:22
domestic sales the foreign trade
00:03:24
slowdown is pushing more exporters into
00:03:26
the domestic market creating even more
00:03:28
excess production he said this year's
00:03:31
apparel industry is like a pressure
00:03:32
cooker that could blow at any moment
00:03:35
this isn't just panic it's worse than
00:03:37
during the pandemic many clothing
00:03:39
business owners may lose everything
00:03:41
they've built over a lifetime people
00:03:43
seeing anybody seeing potential war with
00:03:46
China another Tik Tocker showed the
00:03:48
current situation at his factory because
00:03:51
of the tariff hike orders have been
00:03:52
delayed or cancelled now his packaging
00:03:55
and printing factory doesn't even have
00:03:57
boxes to make all he can do now is clean
00:03:59
the factory a Tik Tocker shared a video
00:04:02
saying that after the US increased
00:04:03
tariffs the impact on China's foreign
00:04:05
trade is obvious he mentioned that when
00:04:08
he flies there are hardly any Westerners
00:04:10
on the plane mostly people from Africa
00:04:12
also when entering the US Chinese people
00:04:15
face especially strict security checks
00:04:18
[Applause]
00:04:20
i'm at Guangjo Bayun airport right now
00:04:22
and the flight is about to take off this
00:04:25
tariff increase is really affecting
00:04:27
China if you look around you can see
00:04:29
there are almost no white faces here
00:04:32
mostly African brothers this shows how
00:04:34
tough the foreign trade situation is
00:04:36
right now when I went through customs
00:04:39
they saw my yellow skin and Chinese
00:04:41
passport and gave me a hard time they
00:04:44
asked about every little detail why I'm
00:04:46
here who I'm visiting where I'm staying
00:04:49
how long I'll be and what business I'm
00:04:51
doing traveling abroad is already hard
00:04:54
and now people like me in foreign trade
00:04:57
have to face Trump's 54% tariff hike and
00:05:00
random checks on April 6th a female
00:05:02
owner of a laser cutting factory Leo
00:05:04
Ting posted a video saying that
00:05:06
manufacturing in China is going to get
00:05:08
even harder and she plans to sell off
00:05:10
her 30,000 watt
00:05:17
equipment yes you heard me right i might
00:05:20
have to sell the laser equipment I
00:05:21
bought last April i don't need to
00:05:23
explain you can probably guess why the
00:05:25
economic environment is bad and the
00:05:27
trade war has already started soon all
00:05:29
manufacturing businesses especially
00:05:31
small ones will face bankruptcy this is
00:05:33
not an exaggeration it's the reality she
00:05:36
also said that starting this month all
00:05:37
manufacturing businesses in China will
00:05:39
face an unprecedented winter more and
00:05:41
more companies will go bankrupt lay off
00:05:43
workers and downsize many manufacturing
00:05:46
owners will end up with insufficient
00:05:48
funds and will not survive cases in
00:05:50
banks law firms and courts will pile up
00:05:53
the Tik Tocker estimates that all
00:05:55
manufacturing business owners are
00:05:57
currently in an anxious confused and
00:05:59
helpless state particularly for
00:06:01
factories that relied on foreign trade
00:06:02
orders the shrinking foreign demand and
00:06:04
declining domestic demand are making it
00:06:06
difficult many small business owners
00:06:08
can't sleep because of worries and fear
00:06:10
they're afraid all the years of hard
00:06:11
work will go to waste they fear they
00:06:13
won't be able to pay employee wages or
00:06:15
cover rent and utilities the Tik Tocker
00:06:18
revealed that with electricity costs for
00:06:20
her equipment already reaching her limit
00:06:22
she has decided to sell her 30,000 watt
00:06:24
laser equipment on April 8th a Tik
00:06:27
Tocker from Chzang shared a video saying
00:06:29
that she suddenly realized the US tariff
00:06:31
increase has also severely impacted
00:06:33
non-exporting manufacturers
00:06:40
how big of an impact has the tariff
00:06:42
increase had on local factories in
00:06:43
Chadzyang i run a small factory and
00:06:46
don't deal with foreign trade so I'm not
00:06:47
sure how much it would affect me but
00:06:49
I've noticed that my upstream suppliers
00:06:51
who export raw materials haven't
00:06:53
received any orders for a long time not
00:06:55
even one container has shipped out when
00:06:57
they can't get orders they try to switch
00:06:59
to domestic sales now people at their
00:07:01
factories are still working non-stop
00:07:03
running around to try to make domestic
00:07:04
sales so when they get involved in the
00:07:06
domestic market doesn't that just drag
00:07:08
the domestic factories into it too
00:07:10
everyone's getting caught in the spiral
00:07:12
and in the end we'll all collapse
00:07:14
together the impact is really huge and
00:07:16
some people probably haven't realized it
00:07:18
yet whether it's the impact on their
00:07:20
foreign trade or on our factories that
00:07:22
don't deal with foreign trade it's all
00:07:24
very significant on April 7th a Tik
00:07:27
Tocker from Fosan visited a newly built
00:07:29
factory district and recorded footage of
00:07:31
the vacant and neglected factory
00:07:33
buildings
00:07:35
he said "Look at these factories that
00:07:37
were just built last year now I can't
00:07:40
even find a single person there are no
00:07:43
cars or people on the road some of these
00:07:46
factories are singlestory and others
00:07:48
have multiple floors the landlords spent
00:07:51
nearly a billion yen to build these just
00:07:54
a few years ago these beautiful
00:07:56
buildings were all leased out by
00:07:58
middlemen you had to wait in line to
00:08:00
rent a factory space but now there isn't
00:08:03
a single customer coming to view the
00:08:05
space the new factory buildings behind
00:08:08
me haven't even been renovated yet
00:08:10
because the landlords are afraid of
00:08:12
spending money if no one rents them with
00:08:15
the manufacturing industry in decline
00:08:17
every industry is
00:08:19
struggling he recalled that some Chinese
00:08:21
companies moved to Southeast Asia to
00:08:23
avoid the USChina trade war a few years
00:08:25
ago now this new wave of tariffs is a
00:08:27
heavy blow to those companies because
00:08:29
some countries have even higher tariffs
00:08:31
than China he questioned where these
00:08:33
companies should go next stay in
00:08:35
Southeast Asia move back to China or
00:08:37
shift to Africa on April 7th Miss Gong a
00:08:40
manager of a Bluetooth headphone export
00:08:42
company in Guangjo told Radio Free Asia
00:08:45
that most companies in GuangDong that
00:08:47
used to trade with the US have stopped
00:08:49
accepting orders due to tariff barriers
00:08:51
she said "I had dinner with people from
00:08:53
the industry yesterday and they told me
00:08:55
that they used to export products from
00:08:57
Vietnam to the US now most of those
00:08:59
orders have stopped they're not taking
00:09:01
new orders they're just waiting to see
00:09:03
how serious the situation will get right
00:09:05
now we know that foreign trade companies
00:09:06
in Guangjo and Guangdong are temporarily
00:09:09
not accepting orders." Miss Gong also
00:09:11
mentioned that a Hong Kong company near
00:09:13
her recently moved its factory to Ho Chi
00:09:15
Min City Vietnam and is currently hiring
00:09:17
Vietnamese locals however the sudden
00:09:20
increase in US tariffs has put the
00:09:22
factory in a difficult position she said
00:09:24
they just built the factory in Vietnam
00:09:26
and now they're about to start
00:09:27
operations but now the US has increased
00:09:30
tariffs by 46% on Vietnam so it's
00:09:33
impossible to avoid the high tax rates
00:09:35
the investment they made earlier is now
00:09:37
wasted according to Trump's announced
00:09:39
plans the US will implement
00:09:41
differentiated tariffs on different
00:09:42
countries and regions with China at 34%
00:09:45
the EU at 20% Taiwan at 32% Vietnam at
00:09:50
46% Switzerland at 31% the UK and Brazil
00:09:54
at 10% and Japan South Korea and India
00:09:56
at 24% additionally Trump announced a
00:09:59
minimum 10% tariff on all goods entering
00:10:02
the US however on April 7th US Treasury
00:10:05
Secretary Scott Bassant stated that
00:10:07
nearly 70 countries have already reached
00:10:09
out to the US to discuss negotiations on
00:10:11
Trump's latest tariff policy he revealed
00:10:14
that President Trump will personally
00:10:15
participate in the talks to secure the
00:10:17
best bargaining position for the US many
00:10:20
Southeast Asian countries including
00:10:21
Vietnam Indonesia Thailand the
00:10:23
Philippines and Malaysia have expressed
00:10:26
willingness to make adjustments and
00:10:27
negotiate with the US despite Vietnam's
00:10:30
proactive efforts to reduce US import
00:10:32
tariffs the White House refused to offer
00:10:34
reciprocal concessions citing non-tariff
00:10:36
cheating us trade adviser Peter Navaro
00:10:39
recently said that Vietnam's issue lies
00:10:41
in non-tariff methods such as Chinese
00:10:44
products being exported via Vietnam and
00:10:46
the theft of US intellectual property
00:10:48
his comments highlighted that the Trump
00:10:50
administration not only sees tariffs as
00:10:52
a tool to resolve trade imbalances but
00:10:54
is also trying to prevent country of
00:10:56
origin laundering and reshape global
00:10:58
manufacturing and supply chains on April
00:11:01
6 a Tik Tocker who runs a granulator
00:11:03
production factory posted a video saying
00:11:05
that due to the US tariff policy her
00:11:07
factory has been working overtime to
00:11:09
meet the demand from orders from
00:11:10
Southeast Asia
00:11:15
today's the second day of our holiday
00:11:17
but all our staff have been urgently
00:11:18
called back to the factory to work
00:11:20
overtime because of the tariff increase
00:11:22
last night our Southeast Asian customers
00:11:24
called asking us to hurry up and produce
00:11:26
and ship the boss said we should
00:11:28
prioritize foreign orders the big
00:11:30
factories we work with are also working
00:11:31
non-stop i don't know what's going to
00:11:33
happen next do you understand what this
00:11:35
means some viewers commented under the
00:11:37
video saying "Once these orders are done
00:11:40
there won't be any more orders this is
00:11:41
the last deal this is the final flurry
00:11:44
before the factory shuts down rushing to
00:11:46
finish orders overnight then pulling out
00:11:48
when the business ends after the US
00:11:50
announced the 34% tariff increase on
00:11:52
Chinese goods the People's Daily
00:11:54
published a series of articles over 3
00:11:56
days strongly criticizing the US's
00:11:59
unilateral abuse of reciprocal tariffs
00:12:01
while stating the sky will not fall
00:12:04
however it's clear that Chinese industry
00:12:05
is feeling pessimistic
00:12:08
reports from Chinese media indicate that
00:12:10
Chinese manufacturers foreign trade
00:12:12
businesses thirdparty intermediaries and
00:12:14
US buyers are all struggling in this
00:12:16
tariff battle some are reworking their
00:12:18
costs overnight and engaging in price
00:12:20
wars others are changing product
00:12:22
specifications and shipping methods
00:12:24
while some are rushing to fulfill orders
00:12:26
in an attempt to minimize losses before
00:12:28
the new tariffs take effect one foreign
00:12:30
trade owner said "No matter what with
00:12:32
these tariff hikes the biggest losers
00:12:34
are the business people." Mr ju an
00:12:37
e-commerce entrepreneur from Djang Su
00:12:39
told Radio Free Asia that the US's high
00:12:41
tariffs on China will lead to the
00:12:43
collapse of many e-commerce businesses
00:12:45
he said "We are definitely affected the
00:12:48
impact is huge and there's basically no
00:12:50
profit left we just can't keep doing
00:12:52
business many e-commerce businesses in
00:12:54
Jang Su and Guangdong can't operate
00:12:56
anymore everyone's in poverty now the
00:12:58
time of hunger and instability is coming
00:13:01
just the other day I met an elderly man
00:13:03
in his 80s who was cursing the leaders
00:13:05
saying they've ruined this country our
00:13:07
foreign policy is surrounded on all
00:13:08
sides and no country is engaging with
00:13:10
China normally anymore veteran media
00:13:13
figure Mr go believes that the
00:13:15
differences between China and the US are
00:13:17
not just about tariffs and that Trump's
00:13:19
tariff hikes are aimed at countries
00:13:20
around the world he points out that
00:13:22
China's trade surplus with the US nearly
00:13:25
reached 300 billion US last year
00:13:27
something President Trump greatly
00:13:29
dislikes he added that US Vietnam trade
00:13:31
can be resolved through negotiations
00:13:33
between the leaders of the countries
00:13:35
including lowering tariffs on Vietnamese
00:13:37
products entering the US but this is not
00:13:39
the case for China he said in comparison
00:13:42
the trade war is definitely more
00:13:44
disadvantageous for China because China
00:13:46
depends heavily on the US market the US
00:13:49
itself is a huge market the key issue is
00:13:51
that after China made the first move no
00:13:53
other countries followed which is
00:13:55
probably the most troublesome problem
00:13:57
for China if Vietnam successfully
00:13:59
negotiates with the US and benefits from
00:14:01
it it will attract many other countries
00:14:03
to follow suit and negotiate as well the
00:14:06
People's Daily the CCP's official paper
00:14:08
warned in a commentary that the US's
00:14:10
actions will ultimately lead to a
00:14:12
self-destructive cycle for the US
00:14:15
australian scholar Lee Yuan Hua stated
00:14:17
that while the US will temporarily be
00:14:19
affected American society's ability to
00:14:22
withstand shocks is relatively greater
00:14:24
than China's he said "If life in China
00:14:26
were to regress decades could the
00:14:28
Chinese people endure it can the CCP
00:14:30
handle the growing public discontent the
00:14:32
CCP doesn't have many cards to play when
00:14:35
it collapses it will likely not be in a
00:14:37
rational way and it won't be due to a
00:14:39
desire to solve problems." In a rare
00:14:42
move there has been criticism within
00:14:43
China against the CCP's countermeasures
00:14:46
against the US hin former deputy
00:14:48
director of the public policy research
00:14:50
center at the Chinese Academy of Social
00:14:52
Sciences recently posted on social media
00:14:55
he said the CCP's countermeasures are
00:14:57
entirely wrong he made a comparison the
00:15:00
tariffs are like if you hit your wife
00:15:02
I'll hit my wife he further pointed out
00:15:05
the US raising tariffs is like shooting
00:15:07
yourself in the foot and we should not
00:15:08
shoot ourselves in the foot as well he
00:15:10
believes the correct countermeasure
00:15:12
strategy is not to retaliate tit for tat
00:15:14
but to adopt a policy of comprehensive
00:15:17
economic openness implementing
00:15:19
unilateral zero tariffs on all imported
00:15:21
goods from other countries chinese
00:15:23
economist Fu Pong believes that Trump's
00:15:25
reciprocal tariffs are like a buyer
00:15:27
gathering supplies for negotiation if
00:15:29
suppliers refuse to negotiate it's like
00:15:31
abandoning their chance to bid which
00:15:33
will exclude them from the supply chain
00:15:35
fu Pong's comments are suspected to have
00:15:37
been deleted chinese financial website
00:15:40
Yeetsai cited analysis from Gal Dong
00:15:43
chief economist at Everbrite Securities
00:15:45
he said that the current China US trade
00:15:47
friction is gradually extending into the
00:15:49
fields of technology and finance if
00:15:52
negotiations continue to be blocked the
00:15:54
decoupling in these areas could further
00:15:56
intensify by May or June the decoupling
00:15:58
technology and finance between China and
00:16:00
the US could resonate with the tariff
00:16:02
policies amplifying pressure on capital
00:16:04
markets
00:16:06
[Music]
