Trump’s tariff pain set to ricochet from China to global economy

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump claims China is paying his tariffs; furniture salesman Mack Yuan in the east-coast commercial heartland of Zhejiang begs to differ. “We don’t pay any tariffs,” says Yuan, whose company Dakang Holdings Co sells about half its products to the US, including to Walmart Inc and Costco Wholesale Corp.
The impact of Trump’s tariff hike on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent from May 10 is beginning to ripple through supply chains. Evidence from Chinese companies suggests
it will pack a punch against lower-end products while leaving many companies a little further up the value chain largely unscathed.
What is already looking more certain is that the rising costs will be felt across the global economy. Prices will rise for American consumers in some cases, hurt Chinese and American corporate profits in others, and drag down growth of nations caught in the crossfire should the global expansion decelerate.
“China probably loses most on paper because it has a big trade surplus with the US,” said Tao Dong, vice chairman for Greater China at Credit Suisse Private Banking in Hong Kong. “The US consumer needs to pay as well. Most other countries run surpluses against China, so if the Chinese economy slows down many others will as well.”