U.S. Businesses Fight Tariff Battle

More than half of U.S. businesses are battling the effects of the unfolding trade war with China; the majority are already feeling the squeeze of the tariffs introduced earlier in 2018, according to a new AsiaInspection report.

Notably, organizations on the other side of the tariff war are considerably less disturbed, with roughly one-third of Chinese respondents seeing the effects of the newly imposed tariffs in their daily business operations.

Among the report’s additional findings:

• More than 50 percent of U.S. respondents report that the newly introduced tariffs are already negatively affecting daily business operations.





• Rising sourcing costs are the greatest challenge brought on by the tariffs, with 44 percent of U.S. respondents assessing this consequence as "serious" or "very serious."
• Though rising sourcing costs are reported as the greatest disruption, U.S. businesses say they will likely choose conservative solutions rather than restructure their global supply chain with new sources.
• Organization size is a factor when assessing the disruptive effect of the U.S.-China tariffs on business operations: Nearly two-thirds of U.S.-based small businesses say they have already felt the negative impact of the 2018 tariffs while this figure hovers around 50 percent for larger organizations.
• Only one-third of Chinese respondents report feeling the effects of the new tariffs in their daily business.

Overall, the report foreshadows a slow and painful shift from dependence on China—and a bleak outlook for the U.S. consumer goods market as businesses look at conservative solutions for adjusting their global supply chains instead of experimenting with new sourcing regions.