Huizhong Wu
BANGKOK (AP) — US President Donald Trump has spoken about his victory after signing a weekend deal with China to reduce air tariffs imposed on each other’s goods, but Chinese companies have been responding cautiously to temporary deals.
The US and China reduced tariffs that were taxed each other in April, and the US imposed a 145% tax last month. China has agreed to reduce the tariff rate on US goods from 125% to 10%. The lower tariff rate came into effect Wednesday.
“We want trade,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, who announced a reduction in tariff charges this weekend in Geneva, said, “We want trade.” The market has rebounded to levels before Trump’s tariffs to deal with Justus, but employers remain vigilant.
Companies like one kitchen cooking utensil factory in southern Guangdong Province were eager to return to work. The business said it had returned at least four orders from American clients to production on Tuesday after the tariff suspension was announced.
“They’re selling the food and food they’re doing,” said Margaret Zuan, sales representative at a cooking utensil factory in Guangdong, one of China’s manufacturing hubs.
The two countries are currently planning to begin negotiations for a long-term deal.
File – Past visitors on a map of the US office for Duca’s, a manufacturer of freezers and cooking utensils, located on April 15, 2025 at 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, in the southern province of China.
File – Alpharobotics.AI vendor unveils service robots at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, southern China on April 16, 2025
Machine loading containers into a container terminal in Shanghai, China on Wednesday, May 14th, 2025 (Chinatopix via AP)
File – Coffee machine vendors are waiting for customers at the 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, southern China on April 16, 2025.
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File – Past visitors on a map of the US office for Duca’s, a manufacturer of freezers and cooking utensils, located on April 15, 2025 at 137th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, in the southern province of China.
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Kahlee Yu, sales manager at Yangjiang Hongnan Industry and Trade Company, also makes kitchenware and says he is reaching out to American customers once again. “We are a little optimistic about the trade agreement between the two parties, but tariff policies could change again, and there are no orders from American clients,” he said.
Even if they were at that moment, the damages from the tariffs announced in April have already been made, Zhuang added, as orders are low. Currently, she is ordering products until June. Earlier this year, before the Trump trade war began, they received an order for production to be extended until August.
Uncertainty also means that a company is not willing to make new investments. Kelvin Liao, sales director at Action Composites, a manufacturer of carbon fiber auto parts in Dongguan, a major city in Guangdong Province, said that he originally planned to buy the land to build a new factory, but instead chose to rent it due to fee situations.
“It’s good to reach a trade agreement between the two countries. But people are already losing confidence in Trump. We’ll be waiting for the attitude,” he said. “We believe signing a trade agreement is a pause and that the ultimate goal for the US is to curb China’s development.”
Tariffs are also enforced in some industries, but this is not part of a common transaction. Danny Lau, a Hong Kong businessman who owns a factory that coats aluminum, said his company is still facing 75% tariffs from tariffs imposed at various points since 2018 by the US.
“The policy changes don’t cover our industry, but we hope that consultations will continue. There will be better news during the 90-day suspension,” he said.
In April, some Chinese companies said they would pay attention to exports to other markets, given how high US tariffs are. Analysts said tariffs could lead Chinese companies to diversify their supply chains and move some of their overseas manufacturing capabilities, including the US.
Auto parts manufacturer Liao said his company already has a factory in Vietnam, and the products there are exported to the US
“I don’t think the US has the ability to produce products like ours, which are low-cost. They won’t give up on the US market.”
AP researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report from Beijing. Hong Kong AP writer Kanis Leung and Washington’s Fu Ting contributed to this report.
Original issue: May 14th, 2025, 1:14pm EDT
