China urges unity against “trade tyranny”

China has called on the world to unite against Trump’s prices while the country’s exporters release new American samples that went to 104%.

“World unit can triumph over commercial tyranny,” said an editorial in the China Daily advertising newspaper, noting Beijing collaborations with Japan, South Korea and other Asian economies. A separate part called for the European Union to work with it to “maintain free trade and multilateralism”.

Beijing “is firmly opposed and will never accept such hegemonic and intimidation practices,” said Foregin Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian on Wednesday.

The prices are at a difficult time for the Chinese economy: domestic consumption remains low and exports are always a major engine of growth.

The radical nature of Trump’s prices has also let Chinese companies rush to adjust their supply chains – most affected countries, companies say it is difficult to find a way to get out of this uncertainty.

The prices will shrink “already thin margins of razor,” said the owner of a Chinese company that manages cross -border logistics for electronic commerce, as well as air and sea freight. He did not want to share his name.

“Higher prices increase costs for forwarders like us, as well as for factories, businesses and sellers. This simply means that everyone wins less.”

Any price up to 35% will destroy all the benefits that Chinese companies make during export to the United States or Southeast Asia, Dan Wang said of the Eurasia consulting company.

“Growth will be much lower, because exports have contributed to 20% to 50% of growth from the cocovid pandemic,” she added.

The Chinese government has not announced reprisal measures, but Beijing will plan to ban Hollywood films and suspend cooperation in fentanyl with the United States, according to Chinese blogger Liu Hong, who is editor of the Xinhua News.

But that would give little comfort to companies like Fulling, a company that sells disposable dishes for fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Wendy, said additional prices will have a significant impact of its company. He noted that almost two-thirds of the company’s income in 2023 and the first half of last year came from the United States.

To alleviate the impact of prices, Fulling, whose head office is based in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, launched a new factory in Indonesia at the end of last year.

But Trump’s new prices have introduced more uncertainty for Chinese exports from Indonesia are now subject to a 32%levy, said the company in a business file.

Indonesia has been struck with a large part of the world in the announcement of President Trump Extended prices last weekwhich, according to him, would allow the American economy to flourish.

But economists have warned of an American and global recession. The prices have also shaken the world markets and attracted criticism from billionaires CEO, including the ally of Trump Elon Musk.

Trump’s import taxes include a reference rate of 10% on almost all foreign imports to the United States, and higher personalized prices for what it calls “worst offenders”. These include Cambodia (49%), Vietnam (46%) and Thailand (36%), development economies that have benefited from strong exports.

After Beijing has announced tat-tat prices, Trump raised samples from Chinese imports, which has more than doubled at 104%.

The owner of the logistics company told the BBC that he hoped that China could negotiate some of these taxes: “It is only once a final decision that we can plan our next steps.”

While China has left the door open to talks, Trump has not spoken to Chinese chief Xi Jinping since his return to the White House.

As large and radical prices will cause more harm than good, said the American Chamber of Commerce in China on Wednesday in a note to its member companies.

“This level of upheaval is unprecedented, and it is not difficult to know how current measures will benefit consumers in one or the other nation or in the broader economy,” read the note signed by President Alvin Liu and President Michael Hart.

Some analysts believe that the samples will force China to restructure its economy and to rely strongly on domestic consumption, that it was fighting to increase.

Otherwise, the prices will not be durable for China in the longer term, said Tim Waterer of the KCM Trade brokerage.

“The prices aim to remove China,” said the director of a Chinese freight company, who asked to remain anonymous.

He added that many Southeast Asian countries that have been affected by steep prices are “exactly where many Chinese companies have moved”, such as Vietnam and Cambodia.

The company based in Tianjin plans to negotiate with some of its American customers to share the burden of prices. “Each case is different, but overall, the impact was quite substantial,” he said.

Another director of the freight company, Wu Changchun, whose company operates mainly on the shipping routes between China and Cambodia, said that it already saw a fall in the volume of freight.

Several construction projects in Cambodia also stopped after the announcement of Trump’s prices, he said.

“If the prices were 10% or 20%, companies could always absorb the cost by optimizing supply chains, cutting the margins and sharing the burden.

“It is a complete decoupling. Trade would stop mainly.”

Additional reports by Annabelle Liang