Tariffs squeeze exporters
- Chinese exporters say the Middle East war has cut orders, raised costs, and dented jobs after earlier weathering U.S. tariffs. (bbc.com) - Sellers in a southern Chinese wholesale hub said they hope a Trump visit will bring tariff relief, amid calls for a reprieve. (cbs19news.com) - The U.S. opened a tariff-refund process only available to American importers, so foreign exporters likely won't benefit; Trump said he'd 'remember' firms that don't apply. ( )
Chinese exporters that had already absorbed years of U.S. tariffs say a new shock from the Middle East war is now cutting orders, raising costs and pushing factories to trim jobs. (bbc.com) At the Canton Fair in Guangzhou this month, exporters told Reuters and the BBC that shipping delays, higher freight rates and pricier raw materials have squeezed margins on everything from plastics to consumer goods. One plastics factory owner said raw-material costs jumped 20% after the Iran war began. (bbc.com, msn.com) In Guangdong’s wholesale markets, sellers said U.S. orders had already thinned after tariffs on many Chinese goods climbed as high as 145% before Washington and Beijing agreed to a one-year truce in October. Some traders said they hoped Donald Trump’s expected visit would bring another reprieve. (france24.com, straitstimes.com) The squeeze is coming from both ends of the route. U.S. tariffs made Chinese goods less competitive in their biggest consumer market, and the Middle East conflict has disrupted fuel supplies, shipping lanes and insurance costs across Asia-bound trade. (bbc.com, news.un.org) Washington has opened a refund process for some of the tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court, but the system is built for U.S. importers of record and their customs brokers, not for foreign factories that shipped the goods. U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched the first phase of its CAPE refund tool on April 20, 2026. (cbp.gov, cbp.gov) CBP says only the importer of record or the authorized broker who filed the entry can submit a claim, and Phase 1 covers unliquidated entries and some entries within 80 days of liquidation. That means Chinese and Indian exporters will usually need an American customer to file if any refund money is to flow back through the supply chain. (cbp.gov, cbp.gov, m.thewire.in) Trump added a political warning on April 21, saying he would “remember” companies that do not seek refunds. Reuters reported that Costco, FedEx and Mondelez joined litigation to preserve refund rights, while Apple, Amazon, Target and Walmart had not joined those suits. (koreaherald.com, msn.com) For exporters in southern China, that leaves little immediate relief. They are still waiting on U.S. demand to recover, while war-related shipping costs and tariff uncertainty keep eating into the orders they fought to keep. (bbc.com, france24.com)
