Taiwan reaps benefits from US-China trade war with order of 300 million pairs of socks for companies in Changhua
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
LOHO Hosiery Museum. (Taiwan Tourism Bureau photo)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A small township in western Taiwan has suddenly found itself flooded with an order for 600 million socks after U.S. President Trump announced that he was raising tariffs on a broad spectrum of consumer products from China earlier this month.
On May 14, Trump announced that he would raise tariffs on US$200 billion worth of goods made in China from 10 percent to 25 percent. The list of items covered by the tariffs included everything from agricultural and livestock products to clothing, household goods, mobile phones, and laptops, causing chaos in the global supply chain.
Although the tariff list is yet to be finalized until the end of the month, many major shoe brands which sell to the U.S. market such as Nike and Adidas issued an open letter to Trump warning that increased costs would be passed on to consumers because 70 percent of shoes imported into the U.S. come from China.
Behind the scenes, however, bills of lading have started to flood into other countries, including Taiwan. Just a week after Trump announced the new tariffs, an order was placed for 300 million pairs of socks for manufacturers in the tiny township of Shetou in Changhua County, reported CommonWealth Magazine. [FULL STORY]
