Donald Trump is a business ‘killer’ who ‘never plays by the rules’, say Chinese exporters after tari

South China Morning Post ^ | 12:23pm, 7 May, 2019 | He Huifeng

[Zhang Fei]

“Those manufacturers who mainly sell to Europe and the United States need to start taking pain killers again,” said exporter Liao Yu, who produces bags and suitcases in Dongguan.

“The cost of relocation is very high for small factories of our kind. But if you don’t move, how do you digest the tariffs? A 25 per cent [tariff] will kill everyone. Meanwhile, European and American customers are now using more suppliers in Southeast Asia to replace us. Trump is just a killer.”

“We thought our products would be safe and excluded from the list [subject to US tariffs]. But Trump never plays by the rules and it seems no one from China’s side is able to contend with him,” said Gloria Luo, who manages a Guangdong-based manufacturer of automotive parts and industrial moulds.

“My team and I have been busy studying whether our products would be included on the list of US$325 billion worth of goods and what we should do next. It’s really hard to absorb the news because the [Chinese] media is just reporting repeatedly that both sides had made positive progress in the latest talks and would reach a final deal soon.

“[Trump’s threat] means a fundamental change for those of us who used to fill American orders, either we must relocate to other countries or suffer great hardship,” said Jason Liang, a sales manager at a Guangzhou-based exporter of LED products.

“There’s a huge difference between [the effect of] a 10 per cent tariff and a 25 per cent tariff. No factory could absorb the tariff costs that are that high.

“[The rise] would only result in massive lay-offs at a large number of export-oriented companies, not to mention [the effect of the new] 25 per cent tariffs on an additional US$325 billion of Chinese goods.

[Pollard]

Yup, back when the kids were young, 13 years ago, the wife and I noticed that and always looked at the labels. We found one brand that was USA.

I used to get the Dole peach chunks in 100% juice when I could find it either USA or Greece because the China was nasty. Dull yellow/brown and tasteless. Now all of it’s china

[SaveFerris]

And I heard he was going to be head of scouting at the New York Mets.

After the Yankee’s front office position, of course.

They had a pastry cart you wouldn’t believe.

[BeauBo]

“the giant sucking sound”

...could get even louder soon. The Administration now says that the final package - 25% on the remaining Chinese imports - is being readied for one month from now.

The package just imposed was bigger than the one that slowed China’s economy in the first quarter, and the next one is about twice that. They will crash China’s economy, which has not had a correction for decades.

Young professionals there have never known anything other than boom times. I’m guessing that a bust will be a hard adjustment.

[Zhang Fei]

could get even louder soon. The Administration now says that the final package - 25% on the remaining Chinese imports - is being readied for one month from now.

The package just imposed was bigger than the one that slowed China’s economy in the first quarter, and the next one is about twice that. They will crash China’s economy, which has not had a correction for decades.

That's why I suspect we will see the yuan-dollar exchange rate shoot past 7, and maybe touch 8. It's now ¥6.82 to the dollar. It would not surprise me if it ended up touching 8 or maybe even the 8.25 at which it was fixed for a decade or so.

¥/$ exchange rate history

Official historical average exchange rates of Renminbi
for major foreign currencies by year[7]
(Chinese yuan per 100 foreign currency units)
Year	USD	JPY	HKD	Euro
2018	661.74	5.9890	84.428	780.16
2017	675.18	6.0244	86.643	763.03
2016	664.23	6.1243	85.578	734.26
2015	622.84	5.1543	80.34	691.41
2014	614.28	5.8196	79.220	816.51
2013	619.32	6.3323	79.845	822.19
2012	631.25	7.9037	81.376	810.67
2011	645.88	8.1050	82.968	900.11
2010	676.95	7.7279	87.130	897.25
2009	683.10	7.2986	88.123	952.70
2008	694.51	6.7427	89.190	1,022.27
2007	760.40	6.4632	97.459	1,041.75
2006	797.18	6.8570	102.620	1,001.90
2005	819.17	7.4484	105.300	1,019.53
2004	827.68	7.6552	106.230	1,029.00
2003	827.70	7.1466	106.240	936.13
2002	827.70	6.6237	106.070	800.58
2001	827.70	6.8075	106.080	 
2000	827.84	7.6864	106.180	 
1999	827.83	7.2932	106.660	 
1998	827.91	6.3488	106.880	 
1997	828.98	6.8600	107.090	 
1996	831.42	7.6352	107.510	 
1995	835.10	8.9225	107.960	 
1994	861.87	8.4370	111.530	 
1993	576.20	5.2020	74.410	 
1992	551.46	4.3608	71.240	 
1991	532.33	3.9602	68.450	 
1990	478.32	3.3233	61.390	 
1989	376.51	2.7360	48.280	 
1988	372.21	2.9082	47.700	 
1987	372.21	2.5799	47.740	 
1986	345.28	2.0694	44.220	 
1985	293.66	1.2457	37.570	 
1984	232.70	0.9780	29.710	 
1983	197.57	0.8318	27.360	 
1982	189.25	0.7607	31.150	 
1981	170.50	0.7735	30.410

[Candor7]

LOL. Trump is a business killer? Look at the US economy roaring like a Dragon!

China is a business killer, we have been giving them 500 billon dollars a year since they came into the WTO in 2001.

Reciprocity does not kill business.

[Amish with an attitude]

The Chinese are intellectual property thieves.

[Rockingham]

With the rise of manufacturing in Vietnam and other lower labor cost venues, China is no longer the cheapest manufacturer. Moreover, China's desire to strengthen its financial markets and establish its currency in a trade and reserve role now rule out competitive devaluation to undercut rivals.

No longer able to rely on a strategy of export-led industrialization for growth, China's interests and economic position now require it to confront the dilemmas and compromises of an over-leveraged middle-income economy with an aging demographic. So far, its leaders seem to prefer the fantasies of its Belt and Road iniative and blaming Donald Trump and the United States as things go wrong.

[Elsie]

...blaming Donald Trump and the United States as things go wrong.

'Leaders' must ALWAYS find an external boogieman to blame; else finding themselves on the OUTS with their countrymen looms ever closer!

[grey_whiskers]

You’re so full if crap it staggers the human mind.
If it were an employee’s market, you’d see hiring bonuses, paid relocation, and employer-paid training.
Only a few bonuses of $1000. or so for night shelf stockers in Minneapolis that I’ve seen.

[ProudVet97]

Confucius also say: “He who cuts fart in church sits in his own pew.”

[steve8714]

Doesn’t solve the problems of stolen process and design, nor greedy us corporations (GM) funded by taxpayers, helping rip suppliers off of their proprietary information.

[steve8714]

Wall Street figured Trump would cave after Repubes showed him the light. They would be wrong then, wouldn’t they? They have bet heavily on China, which is why “the market” is tanking.

[central_va]

The MSM and the Republicans are trying to dupe that average citizen think this is an embargo ( it’s a tariff ) and nothing will be shipped from China. It is portrayed as a crises with empty shelves when the opposite is the truth. It is sad these globalist.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Nice ad hominem, I always spoke highly of you.

If it were an employee’s market, you’d see hiring bonuses, paid relocation, and employer-paid training.

Funny thing...when I searched all those terms, I found plenty of responses. Problem is, we already have low unemployment. Maybe people are still content with their new jobs, and glad to be working again.

[grey_whiskers]

It’s sectoe and geography dependent.

Omoeba said “under my plan electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket” promising to kill of coal *and* industry, while pushing electric cars; and btw overturning centuries of jurisprudence in the GM takeover by putting his cronies ahead of legitimate bondholders, and by promising “shovel-ready” jobs while shoveling money to Dems (Solyndra) and pledging that the money wouldn’t go to hire men

“Fundamentally transforming” the USA.

Woulda worked, too, except Trump got elected instead of Hillary.

Trump is pushing the hiring of blue-collar men; but the cheap labour express is maneuvering to take away entry level student jobs (H2-B) and what was suppose to be the “learn to code”) fallback jobs for unemployed miners via H1-B.

Maybe Trump can’t yet anger the Senate RINOs, after losing the House, maybe he needs them for judges, but an awful lot of white collar /desk jobs have been given to foreigners.

Companies used to hire and train when they needed people: after a generation of Jack *spit* Welch’s “we gave them lifetime employability” followed by offspring (McKinsey & co.), and Big Tech hiring foreigners while doing stock dividends of $50 BILLION, it’d be nice to see Trump hold the other RINOs’ feet to the fire.

Sorry for my overreaction: you hit a big red button and I needed to rant.

[magellan]

Trade with China is a Faustian bargain.

Most of the trade we are engaged in is trading our dollars for their cheap labor and cheap manufacturing costs. In many cases, these are American designed products manufactured and/or assembled in China.

For many years, these Chinese manufacturing companies were actually owned by the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military. Their profits were used to directly fund China’s military.

China also engages in aggressive corporate espionage and intellectual property theft. They are effectively gifted high-end manufacturing expertise by western companies who want to take advantage of their cheap labor and manufacturing costs.

McDonnell Douglas established an airliner assembly line in China in the 1980s, and Airbus did the same in the 2000s, both of which resulted in significantly advancing China’s organic aircraft manufacturing capability.

We do sell China grain. But not much else. The idea all of this trade would result in significant sales of U.S. goods to China has never panned out.

[Svartalfiar]

Most of the trade we are engaged in is trading our dollars for their cheap labor and cheap manufacturing costs. In many cases, these are American designed products manufactured and/or assembled in China.

Which is, of course, a complete bullshit way to try to Americanize their Chinese products. Similar to how Apple has the balls to say their iPods are 'designed in CA', when really 99% of their process is 'Made in China'.