National Business
Chinese companies brace for tariff hike as trade talks begin
The Associated Press
May 09, 2019 05:11 AM
ORDER REPRINT
→
A man looks at power banks at a section selling digital accessories at a hypermarket in Beijing, Thursday, May 9, 2019. Ratcheting up tension ahead of talks in Washington, China vowed Thursday to defend its own interests and retaliate if President Donald Trump goes ahead with more tariff hikes in a dispute over trade and technology.
Andy Wong
AP Photo
BEIJING
Chinese exporters of all sorts of products, from power adapters and computers to vacuum cleaners, are anxiously hoping trade talks in Washington this week will yield a deal that might stave off higher U.S. tariffs on imports from China.
Companies across China are bracing for a tariff hike after President Donald Trump, complaining Beijing was backtracking and the talks on a festering trade dispute were taking too long, said he would raise import duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25% from 10%.
The tariffs have devastated many factories in Chinese coastal regions that serve the U.S. market. Industries such as electronics have seen sales to the U.S. plummet up to 40%. Overall Chinese exports to the U.S. dropped 13% in April from a year earlier.