BEIJING – A growing number of Chinese companies are adopting a crafty way to evade US President Donald Trump’s tariffs: remove the “Made in China” label by shifting production to countries such as Vietnam, Serbia and Mexico.

The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a months-long trade fight after Trump imposed 25 percent customs duties on $50-billion worth of Chinese goods this summer, triggering a swift tit-for-tat response from Beijing.

Chinese factories making everything from bikes to tyres, plastics and textiles are moving assembly lines abroad to skirt higher customs taxes on their exports to the United States and elsewhere, according to public filings.

Hl Corp, a Shenzhen-listed bike parts maker, made clear to investors last month that tariffs were in mind when it decided to move production to Vietnam.

The factory will “reduce and evade” the impact of tariffs, management wrote, noting Trump hit e-bikes in August, with new border taxes planned for bicycles and their parts.

READ: Trump threatens tariffs on all imports from China

Trump warned last week those tariffs — targeting $200-billion in Chinese imports — could come “very soon”.

“It’s inevitable that the new duties will lead companies to review their supply chains globally — overnight they will become 25 percent less competitive than they were,” said Christopher Rogers, a supply chain expert at trade data firm Panjiva.

Supply chains have already begun relocating out of China in recent years as its rising labour and environmental protection costs have made the country less attractive.

Tariffs are adding fuel to the fire, experts and companies say.

“China-US trade frictions are accelerating the trend of the global value chain changing shape,” said Cui Fan, research director at the China Society of WTO Studies, a think tank affiliated with the commerce ministry.

“The shifting abroad of labour-intensive assembly could bring unemployment problems and this needs to be closely watched,” Cui said, adding the shift would not help the US’s overall trade deficit.

Source:

https://www.enca.com/business/chinese-companies-flee-overseas-avoid-us-tariffs