Tariffs put American businesses under huge pressure
By Zheng Qi, People’s Daily
Patricia Phillips, president of a
chemical manufacturer SNP Inc., said her company is in a life-or-death situation
because of the additional tariffs proposed by the U.S. government on Chinese
imports.
Phillips made the remarks on June
20, the fourth day of the seven-day public hearing on Washington’s plan to
impose additional tariffs on nearly $300 billion worth of more Chinese imports held
by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Located in North Carolina, SNP
specializes in producing sodium alginate products. Chinese companies are the
most important suppliers of raw materials for SNP, Phillips said.
Her father passed away a few days
ago, but she must attend the hearing at this crucial moment, expressed
Phillips, almost weeping. Phillips said her company was set up with painstaking
efforts by her father 58 years ago, and they have been working very hard all
these years to make SNP what it is now.
It is the second time for SNP to
take part in the public hearings. Phillips hurried to attend her father’s
funeral immediately after she stated her views in front of the officials at the
hearing.
With facts and data, U.S. business
owners from various fields including textile, chemical industry, medical field,
clothing, glasses, jewelry, and sport products, elaborated on the irrationality
of the tariffs and the importance of Chinese supply chains.
Founder and CEO of a design and
development company of high-end women’s lingerie in Massachusetts brought some
of the company’s products to the hearing. Each of the products was handsewn
with 30 to 45 pieces of cloth, which requires high standards of manufacturing
techniques.
She had investigated 14 countries
other than China, but none of which can meet her company’s requirements for
production, according to the CEO, who told the officials about her experiences
of trying to find substitutes for Chinese manufacturers.
She said that workers in these
countries do not want to do such tedious jobs which involve handcraft like hand
sewing and beading. Some worker couldn’t meet the company’s quality standards,
and some factories couldn’t deliver goods in time.
Ryan McFarland, founder and CEO
of Strider Sports International Inc., was born in a family which was familiar
with bike racing. In order to build a suitable bike for his son, McFarland made
a balance bike by himself and hence set up the brand Strider, which has sold
more than 2.5 million bikes around the world.
McFarland’s success owes much to
Strider’s cooperation with a manufacturer in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang
province. Today, the U.S. government’s plan to impose additional tariffs on
more Chinese imports pose a serious problem for Strider, which has shelved its
domestic expansion and recruitment plan in the U.S.
Doug Hill, president of AFX
Helmets, drove over 1,000 kilometers to the hearing from Michigan. Showing
People’s Daily motorcycle helmets of his company, Hill explained that the
products contain patented technologies of his company’s manufacturing partner
in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong province.
The partner’s high-tech materials
not only make the helmets lighter, but enhance the protective performance of
the helmets, said Hill.
If the additional tariffs were to
be put into practice, the price of the company’s products would be raised from
$80 to $120, which means consumers might become reluctant to replace their
helmets even if they degrade, or just buy cheaper products, according to Hill,
who pessimistically predicted that the sales volume of his company could drop
by 50 percent because of the additional tariffs.
Tariffs put American businesses under huge pressure
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