Chinese Manufacturers Ignore US, Lists Items Traded as They turn to Nigeria After Trump’s Tariff
- Nigeria and other developing nations are becoming the focus of Chinese product makers
- This followed the imposition of trade duties on their exports by US President Donald Trump
- Manufacturers say since Washington raised taxes on Chinese imports by 145%, U.S. orders for their goods have vanished
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
China's product manufacturers have shifted their focus to Nigeria and other emerging countries after US President Donald Trump imposed trade tariffs on their goods.
Source: UGC
Trump launched bilateral trade talks with roughly 75 nations on April 2 and imposed a 46% tariff on Vietnam and a 17% charge on the Philippines. He then reduced both tariffs to 10% for the following three months.
Manufacturers claim that U.S. orders for their products have disappeared since Washington increased duties on Chinese imports by 145%.
“It’s a matter of life and death because 60-70% of our business is with American clients,” marketing manager of Conmo Electronic Co, Candice Li SAID in a survey obtained by Channels Television on Tuesday, adding, “Goods cannot be exported and money cannot be collected. This is very severe.”
According to the majority of exporters Reuters contacted, U.S. orders have either been postponed or ceased to arrive, which is concerning for the second-largest economy in the world, whose expansion last year was largely dependent on maintaining a trillion-dollar trade surplus.
Sales in Europe are now growing, but the U.S. market is "frozen," according to Kobe Huang, sales representative of Shenzhen Landun Environmental Technology, a manufacturer of water filters and smart toilets.
U.S. customers and distributors haven’t cancelled orders, he said. “They have asked us to hold on. We are holding on.”
No other nation can equal China's annual sales of almost $400 billion worth of goods to the United States.
Furthermore, even though Trump's tariffs on the rest of the world are significantly smaller, they are probably going to reduce demand globally in the upcoming months, as well as indirectly, the desire for Chinese goods abroad.
China exports to Nigeria
China's exports to other nations, notably Nigeria, have increased dramatically in spite of the tariffs imposed on the country.
China is predicted to report first-quarter growth of about 5% on Wednesday, driven by exports, according to an AFP survey.
Many exporters stated that they have been expanding their markets outside of the US or diversifying their manufacturing sites outside of China.
The U.S. market now only contributes up 10% of direct sales, compared to 30% prior to the epidemic, according to Henry Han, sales manager of Apexto Electronics Co., a manufacturer of SSD and micro SD flash drives.
To get around the tariffs, many of their clients now ship components to be assembled in a third nation.
Following Trump's tariffs, Skechers' order for 30,000 speakers to be shipped to their U.S. stores was halted, according to David Du, sales manager for speaker manufacturer Zealot. He did, however, add that he can rely on other markets.
In 2015, Zealot received a significant and surprising boost when a multipurpose speaker, power bank, and emergency lighting gained popularity in Nigeria.
He added that the Nigerian market, which accounts for 40% of overall sales and receives 45 containers each month, is now twice as large as the U.S. market.
“We are as big as JBL” in Nigeria, Du said, referring to the Californian audio equipment brand.
Source: Getty Images
Items exported to Nigeria
With an emphasis on manufactured goods, especially machinery, automobiles, and electrical and electronic equipment, China exports a wide range of important items to Nigeria.
These top exports in 2023 were cars (other than railroad or tramway) ($1.34B), machinery, nuclear reactors, and boilers ($2.13B), and electrical and electronic equipment ($2.88B).
Between January and September 2024, China's imports from Nigeria increased by 36.1% annually, and bilateral trade between the two countries hit an all-time high of $15.1 billion (about N25.7 trillion).
Overall US tariff rate at highest in a century
Legit.ng reported that US President Donald Trump's delay of steeper tariffs may have won brief respite on Wall Street, but analysts say his actions -- which hit China especially hard -- already bring the average US effective tariff rate to its highest in over a century.
Besides imposing sweeping new 10 percent tariffs on goods from most US trading partners, Trump has also unleashed steep duties on imports of steel, aluminum and autos since his White House return.
But on Wednesday, he backed off even higher rates on dozens of economies, including the European Union and Asian manufacturing hub Vietnam, following a sharp sell-off in US government bond markets - though he doubled down on action against China.
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Source: Legit.ng
