Marathon hearings shed light on US tariff harm, cherished ties with China

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Photo taken on June 17, 2019 shows anti-tariff posters on a fishing rod in Washington D.C., the United States. [Photo/Xinhua]

A cash bonanza seems stuck in limbo for Powercharge, a North Carolina-based lithium-ion cell phone accessory company, as proposed additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods loom on the horizon.

A disturbing 25-percent tariff, if it happens, would stifle a potential deal, said Brett Portaro, co-founder of the start-up. It just had received a verbal commitment to its first large order from a major brick-and-mortar U.S. retailer last week. To obtain the opportunity, Portaro has been working hard.

Now as the very last witness of the seven-day hearings regarding the tariff hikes on 300 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese products, Portaro aims to take control of his own destiny.

During the hearings that concluded in Washington Tuesday, more than 300 business and industry representatives from a broad range of sectors, most of which matter to American families' daily life, made their case against the threatened tariff hikes, a battle for prospects, or even for survival.

Harm across the board

"We have very loyal people who have worked for us for a very long time," said Rick Muskat, president of Deer Stags, a U.S. shoe company. "Their jobs are at stake."

Muskat's family-owned business would be in jeopardy due to Washington's latest trade protectionist move, as his company's shoes are mostly sourced from China.

The proposed new tariffs cover such industries as apparel and footwear, food and drinks, culinary, housing, safety, auto, electronics, sporting and recreation, and inflict harm on big and small businesses that rely upon Chinese supplies.

Ahead of the hearings, hundreds of U.S. companies and associations signed a letter to President Donald Trump, urging an abandonment of the tariff hikes, saying they "remain concerned about the escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs" between the world's top two economies.

"We know firsthand that the additional tariffs will have a significant, negative and long-term impact on American businesses, farmers, families and the U.S. economy," read the letter, released by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a U.S. nationwide anti-tariff campaign. "Tariffs are taxes paid directly by U.S. companies."

When it is estimated that existing tariffs on China have cost an average American family of four more than 800 dollars per year, the Tax Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based independent tax policy nonprofit, said the proposed tariffs would impose nearly 2,000 more dollars per year.

Major U.S. tech companies including Apple, Microsoft and Intel warned that the proposed tariffs would crimp innovation and competitiveness.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California said she has heard from companies about the pain the tariffs are causing "by disrupting their supply chains and raising their costs of doing business in ways that damage their competitiveness and in some cases, threaten their existence."

Worse, when prices on safety products, including child car seats, get higher, it could put lives at risk.

"We are concerned that without affordable access to a safe car seat and safe sleep products parents may be forced into makeshift alternatives or go without protective products at all," said Lisa Trofe, managing director of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, a national trade organization.

"Even one death of a child, due to unavailability of affordable life-saving baby products, is one too many," Trofe said.

Chinese partners, cherished friends

Steven Stokes, CEO of the Utah-based Propel Trampolines LLC, has a good relationship with a manufacturer in Qingdao, a city in eastern China. Its leader, "Mr. Lu" as Stokes calls him, is willing to "grow with us, support us, help us develop products, produce products."

"He's been a great partner to work with," Stokes told Xinhua. "It'd be very difficult to replace not only a partner but a friend like I have in Qingdao because those are long-term relationships."

Stories of success for a vast array of U.S. companies would have been pipe dreams had there been no Chinese participation. Considered reliable partners, they are also cherished as trustworthy friends.

China makes it viable to produce "appealing," "entertaining," and "exciting" children's books on a large scale, said Daniel Reynolds, CEO of Workman Publishing, a New York-based independent publisher.

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