Chinatown businesses across U.S. start stockpiling China-made goods amid tariff war
Published: 21 Apr. 2025, 17:15
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![A person walks under lanterns hanging over Grant Avenue in Chinatown in San Francisco on April 18. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/21/d910d80d-728c-4598-bc81-cb3e2588887f.jpg)
A person walks under lanterns hanging over Grant Avenue in Chinatown in San Francisco on April 18. [AP/YONHAP]
A “stockpiling war” is underway across Chinatowns in the United States as Chinese American merchants are rushing to buy up inventory before prices spike further under U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, which reach as high as 145 percent, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
One of them is Andy Wang, who has run a Taiwanese barbecue pork restaurant in New York’s Chinatown for 26 years and recently got busy stockpiling supplies.
In his restaurant’s basement, piles of items such as rice wine and plastic containers are stacked high.
“Everything you see here, including some food ingredients, comes from China, and the United States either doesn’t have a substitute or has a very expensive one,” Wang said. “I have to stock up so I can keep operation costs stable for as long as possible.”
Still, he fears he may eventually have to shut down — an anxiety sparked by President Trump’s new tariffs on Chinese goods.
The Financial Times reported that the tariffs have delivered a heavy blow to Chinatown businesses. These merchants have long relied on affordable Chinese-made ingredients and goods, but with tariffs in place, costs have more than doubled.
Raising prices sharply is not an option for these Chinatown businesses.
![Boxes of ginger from China are stacked at a market in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles on April 11. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/21/2251118e-58a0-4eba-a992-149dd7c2a6d3.jpg)
Boxes of ginger from China are stacked at a market in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles on April 11. [AP/YONHAP]
“There is no way our customers can accept prices going from $100 to $200 within such a short time frame. They will have to cut corners," said Wu Jianxi, general manager of C&A Supermarket in Flushing, a heavily Chinese neighborhood in New York.
To hold off rising costs, merchants are buying up lower-priced goods while they still can. But competition is fierce.
Wang said he ordered six boxes of microwave-safe containers, but was only able to get one. The rush to stock up is happening not just in New York but in Chinatowns across the country, like in San Francisco.
Wholesalers that supply these shops are also in crisis. Since the tariffs took effect, Chinese imports have dropped significantly, depleting inventory levels. As a result, some wholesalers have raised prices or started limiting quantities.
“With a 145 percent tariff, I’ll be giving you Chinese products for free if I sell them at the original price,” said Deng Long, owner of Strong America, a New York-based trading company, adding that he planned to increase prices by half next week following a 10 percent increase this week.
![People browse outside a gift shop in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan, New York, on April 13. China said on April 11 that it would raise its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 percent in a further escalation of a trade war that threatens to bring exports to a halt between the world's two biggest economies. Beijing's retaliation sparked fresh market volatility, with stocks seesawing, gold prices surging and U.S. government bonds under pressure. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/21/91441ba7-5f94-4197-8a86-f2dc2f5bb24c.jpg)
People browse outside a gift shop in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan, New York, on April 13. China said on April 11 that it would raise its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 percent in a further escalation of a trade war that threatens to bring exports to a halt between the world's two biggest economies. Beijing's retaliation sparked fresh market volatility, with stocks seesawing, gold prices surging and U.S. government bonds under pressure. [AP/YONHAP]
Chinese suppliers, too, are changing their stance.
“China seems to be ready to decouple from the U.S.,” Deng said, adding that his Chinese partners had stopped taking new orders as the outlook for the tariff war remained unclear.
Retailers unable to absorb the rising costs have started increasing their prices. Six Chinese supermarkets in New York’s Chinatown and Flushing raised prices on China-made goods — from rice crackers to spices — by 10 to 50 percent following the tariff hike.
The worst may still be ahead. Chinatown merchants estimate that their pre-tariff inventory will last no more than two months.
Wu told the Financial Times that prices for Chinese goods may “surge” as soon as next month when the market starts to rely on imports that are subject to higher tariffs.
“We can’t live with a 145 percent tariff for a single day,” Wu said.
“Tariffs will have a lasting and devastating impact on the Chinese American community,” said executive director Wellington Chen of New York advocacy group the Chinatown Partnership, saying that the impact would be “worse than what Chinatown experienced after September 11,” according to the Financial Times, referring to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in 2001.
![A Deutsche Post DHL Group truck drives in Berlin on March 6. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/21/dc91b820-853c-4c95-ae3b-0a7c285dee2e.jpg)
A Deutsche Post DHL Group truck drives in Berlin on March 6. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Meanwhile, DHL Express announced that starting Monday, it will suspend business-to-consumer shipments to the United States that exceed $800 in value, according to Reuters. DHL attributed the move to new U.S. customs regulations.
Previously, only shipments exceeding $2,500 required formal customs clearance, but starting April 5, that threshold was lowered to $800, significantly increasing the number of shipments requiring clearance and leading to delays. DHL said it suspended the service temporarily due to these processing issues.
Business-to-business shipments will not be suspended but may be delayed, DHL said, while shipments under $800 will remain unaffected for both businesses and individuals. However, starting May 2, the United States also plans to end its de minimis exemption that allowed duty-free imports for items under $800 and will begin tighter enforcement.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE SEUNG-HO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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