Under the pressure of China's labor shortage and rising wages, Shu Kean first moved the idea of migrating part of production to Southeast Asia a few years ago, but later he could not. Shukhan's company supplies the United States with bullet-proof vests, rifle bags and other tactical equipment.
But last year, trade tensions between the United States and China escalated into tariff wars, becoming the last straw to overwhelm camels.
The day after President Trump announced tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to the United States in September, Shu Kean, 49, decided to start making vest for his American customers in Myanmar.
Since then, the Trump government has further raised tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the United States, and the import tariff on the bullet-proof vest manufactured by Shu Kean in Guangzhou has been raised to 42.6% in the United States.
Since more than half of Shukhan's revenues depend on U.S. orders, he was satisfied with the decision to move production to Myanmar.
"Trade wars are actually a blessing in disguise," he said.
In recent years, some manufacturers in China have begun to transfer some of their production capacity to Vietnam and Cambodia because of the high cost of domestic operations. Today, the trade war is prompting more companies to follow suit, especially manufacturers of low-tech and low-value products.
Some Chinese exporters are trying to escape the war of trade wars by quietly transferring goods from third countries.
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