Countering Trump’s tariffs: Hong Kong headwear maker moves again and again
First came shock and pain. Then Mainland Headwear’s Pauline Ngan looked for ways to tackle the tariff mayhem
Hong Kong businesswoman Pauline Ngan Po-ling was in Beijing for China’s annual parliamentary meeting in early March when mayhem struck the global trading system.
United States President Donald Trump had begun slapping hefty tariffs on US trading partners, hitting China hardest, in a bid to reduce the US trade deficit, assert American interests and correct what he believes are imbalances unfair to the world’s largest economy.
Ngan recalled the chaos on March 5, the day after Trump levied a 25 per cent tariff on imports from neighbouring Mexico, where her company produced caps, hats and other headgear mainly for the American market.
That day, she said, US customs officers did not know how to impose the new tariffs on Mainland Headwear Holdings’ goods moving across the border.
The very next day, however, Trump suspended the Mexico tariffs, and subsequent negotiations led to zero duties for garment imports from the country.
While that was a relief, Bangladesh, where Ngan’s company had its main production base, was affected by a series of moves by the US leader.