{"id":278463,"date":"2025-04-10T03:37:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T03:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/american-customers-wont-buy-anything-this-year-trumps-104-tariffs-dim-festive-cheer-for-chinas-christmas-factories-the-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T03:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T03:37:21","slug":"american-customers-wont-buy-anything-this-year-trumps-104-tariffs-dim-festive-cheer-for-chinas-christmas-factories-the-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/american-customers-wont-buy-anything-this-year-trumps-104-tariffs-dim-festive-cheer-for-chinas-christmas-factories-the-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018American customers won\u2019t buy anything this year\u2019: Trump\u2019s 104% tariffs dim festive cheer for China\u2019s Christmas factories – The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chinese producers of plastic Christmas trees and other holiday items say they\u2019ve yet to receive any orders from their US clients \u2013 and they fear they may not get any at all, reports news agency Reuters.
The delay comes amid soaring US import tariffs, with US President Donald Trump<\/a> ramping up levies on Chinese goods by 104% this year alone.
Manufacturers across China have expressed concerns as international clients lower, pause, or even cancel orders.
\u201cBy mid-April all the orders are normally finalised,\u201d said Qun Ying, who runs a Christmas tree factory in Jinhua, eastern China. He was quoted as saying to Reuters, \u201cBut right now … it’s hard to know if any orders are coming. Maybe American customers won\u2019t buy anything this year.\u201d
Across the festive supply chain, manufacturers are reporting a standstill. Jessica Guo, also based in Jinhua, said one of her major American buyers has just paused a 3 million yuan ($408,191) order after spending 400,000 yuan on materials.
\u201cI expect that order will soon be cancelled,\u201d she told Reuters. \u201cMy peers and I rely on U.S. orders to survive. This will inevitably affect a lot of people. No one can escape.\u201d
Guo noted that domestic demand for Christmas decorations in China is negligible. \u201cLosing the U.S. market will definitely impact many people\u2019s jobs,\u201d she said.
Her 10,800-square metre factory usually employs 140 people, with the workforce swelling to 200 during the summer peak. This year, she doesn\u2019t expect to hire extra staff.
Tariffs dim festive cheer<\/span>
US retailers source 87% of their Christmas decorations from China, amounting to roughly $4 billion annually. Meanwhile, Chinese factories sell about half of their stock to the US market. This dependency on each other is now being tested by the escalating trade war.
Now that tariffs have been slapped on countries like Cambodia \u2014 which supplies just 5.5% of America’s Christmas decorations \u2014 shoppers in the US could be left with emptier shelves and higher prices.
\u201cIf Americans want new Christmas decorations this year, they will have to pay a lot more for them \u2014 if they can find them on the shelves at all,\u201d one exporter told Reuters.
‘US orders will come down’<\/span>
In the Chinese city of Shaoxing, factory owner Liu Song is attempting to adapt by shifting his focus away from the US.
\u201cWe are worried that U.S. orders will come down,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we will definitely win this trade war.\u201d
Song is now targeting markets in Russia, Europe and Southeast Asia, which already take in 75% of his products.
Economists predict the trade war will shave 1\u20132 percentage points off China\u2019s economic growth this year. As Chinese exporters lose US orders, they\u2019re likely to slash prices to stay competitive elsewhere \u2014 squeezing already-thin profit margins and threatening jobs at home.
\u2018We\u2019re a happy, joyful business\u2019<\/span>
Jami Warner, head of the American Christmas Tree Association, says the country lacks the labour, skills, and technology to make it happen.
\u201cThey certainly can’t be made in the United States,\u201d she said. \u201cThere’s no manufacturing, the technology isn’t here, the labour market isn’t here.\u201d
Warner estimates price hikes are inevitable and warns the whole sector has become \u201ccollateral damage\u201d in a geopolitical battle.
\u201cWhat our members make and sell are not strategic products,\u201d she added. \u201cWe\u2019re not threatening. We\u2019re a happy, joyful business. We\u2019d like to stay in that joyful business.\u201d<\/div>\n