While the escalating tit-for-tat trade war and increasing tariff rate hikes between the United States and China cannot be controlled, proactive companies are learning to swing with the punches—from diversifying their supply chains to shifting their production lines elsewhere.
Concerns among business leaders rose to a whole new level on Aug. 23, when the United States Trade Representative (USTR), at the direction of President Donald Trump, announced it would be increasing by an additional 5 percent the tariffs on approximately $550 billion worth of goods imported from China. For the current 25 percent tariff on approximately $250 billion worth of imports from China (List 1, List 2, and List 3), USTR will increase the tariff rate to 30 percent on Oct. 1.
