Chinese manufacturers speed up efforts to dodge Trump tariffs
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. After the Trump administration put a new 10% tariff on Chinese products earlier this month, Agilian Technology, an electronics manufacturer in China, pressed forward with its plan to avoid additional levies. In the run-up to last year’s election, Agilian grew increasingly worried that the U.S.
would introduce new tariffs if Donald Trump returned to the White House, and one of its key customers asked it to devise a contingency plan for such a scenario. Soon after, an executive from the company visited a factory in Malaysia to explore moving some production there. Now the 10% levy—and the threat of more to come—is forcing Agilian to quickly set up production in the country, with the goal of sending its first goods to the U.S.
in the spring. “It is forcing us to accelerate the work," said Renaud Anjoran, executive vice president of Agilian, who is visiting India soon to scope out other factories. For many Chinese manufacturers, Trump’s return has added urgency to continuing plans to open factories or find partners in other countries, especially in Southeast Asia.
Others that embarked on the “China plus one" strategy—finding a backup to China as the world’s factory floor—are moving more production abroad. Some factories are looking for ways to lower prices and keep their products attractive as tariffs raise costs for U.S. buyers.
But profit margins are already stretched thin in many industries in China, leaving limited room to trim prices. Manufacturers are bracing for more pain. The Trump administration has proposed fees on Chinese shipping companies and Chinese-built ships entering U.S.
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