
Chinese Toymaker Takes Drastic Action to Survive Trump's Tariffs
Ah Biao, the founder of a toy factory in southern China that makes magnetic puzzles and sensory tubes for American children, is still in business despite brinkmanship by US President Donald Trump.
When Trump hiked tariffs on China from 54% to 145% in early April, Ah Biao — a moniker his colleagues and friends call him — rented a factory in northern Vietnam. He packed 90 sets of iron or steel molds into 60 boxes, some weighing over than 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds), which were shipped to the Southeast Asian country for production to evade levies.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's tariff war: Canada expected to keep NAFTA 2.0 'carve-out' in new U.S. trade deal
A new Canada-U.S. trade deal will likely carry forward the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) tariff exemptions shielding most Canadian exports from American tariffs today, says Deloitte Canada chief economist Dawn Desjardins. She's optimistic that Canada can avoid the economic hit that may be in store for other U.S. trading partners. U.S. President Donald Trump has set July 9 as the deadline for countries to ink a trade deal in order to avoid his 'Liberation Day' tariffs, many of which are higher than the baseline 10 per cent levy the White House has applied to most countries. For Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump agreed on the sidelines of the recent G7 meeting in Alberta to strike a deal by July 21. 'Our baseline view assumes that at a minimum, we continue to operate with our CUSMA carve-outs. Meaning, the vast majority of Canadian goods that we sell into the U.S. will continue to be tariff-free,' Desjardins told Yahoo Finance Canada in an interview earlier this week. 'The sounds we're hearing seem to be moving in the right direction. Obviously, [I have] no inside information. It's just an assumption that we will not be severely hit by 25 per cent tariffs across the board.' While Trump has ramped up tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as the auto sector, economists say Canada achieved the lowest U.S. tariff rate among major trade partners when CUSMA-compliant goods were exempted on April 2. On Wednesday, RBC Economics estimated that roughly 86 per cent of Canadian exports should ultimately be able to access the U.S. market duty free under current trade rules. RBC expects the share of CUSMA-compliant trade to rise rapidly from 50 per cent in March. Trump signed CUSMA, also known as United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, into U.S. law on Jan. 29, 2020. The deal was dubbed 'NAFTA 2.0' or 'New NAFTA,' as it replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement implemented in 1994. 'I'm a little surprised that we were already front and centre in terms of the initial tariffs being applied to Canada, given that we have that trade agreement,' Desjardins said. 'The element of trust that we have with our biggest trading partner has been quite damaged by this.' Deloitte Canada's latest economic forecast, published on Wednesday, calls for that damage to result in a 'modest recession' in the second and third quarters of the year. Ontario and Quebec are due to be hardest hit, given their weight in the manufacturing sector. Statistics Canada's latest GDP reading shows the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter. Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada warned the economy will be "substantially weaker" in the second quarter of 2025, versus the start of the year as the full impact of U.S. import tariffs hits Canadian businesses. Deloitte sees Canada's real GDP growth rising 1.1 per cent in 2025, before accelerating to 1.6 per cent in 2026. 'As we move forward, and we have more clarity, whatever clarity looks like, but more clarity on our relationship with the U.S., and how the [Canadian] government is actually going to get into action, these are going to be the things that lift us as we go into 2026,' Desjardins said. Canadians will have to wait until the federal government's fall budget for more details on Carney's plans to spend billions on building housing inventory, advancing infrastructure projects, and investing in Canada's military. 'There's a lot in the hopper,' Desjardins added. 'There are just so many underlying factors at this stage that could have either a temporary or short-term impact, or be more persistent.' Deloitte Canada's optimistic take on rebuilding Canada-U.S. trade links comes on the heels of a similar analysis by the Canadian arm of fellow accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released last week. 'Canada is maybe in the best position of any other country,' Michael Dobner, PwC Canada's national leader of economics and policy practice, told Yahoo Finance Canada last Tuesday. 'The negotiation between Canada and the U.S. may further cement Canada's position over other countries as an exporter to the U.S.' Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on X @jefflagerquist. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Forbes
23 minutes ago
- Forbes
Billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi's Gulf Development, Partner Greenlight $1.8 Billion LNG Project
A natural gas facility operated by Gulf Development in Thailand. A joint venture led by Gulf Development—an energy-to-telecommunications conglomerate controlled by billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi—will invest up to 60 billion baht ($1.8 billion) to develop a liquefied natural gas terminal and regasification facility at the Map Ta Phut industrial port in eastern Thailand. Shareholders of Gulf MTP LNG Terminal (GMTP)—which is 70% held by Gulf Development and 30% by PTT Tank Terminal, a unit of Thailand's state-owned energy company PTT—on Tuesday gave the greenlight for the project to proceed.. Construction is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of this year and commercial operations are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2029, Bangkok-listed Gulf Development said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The project, which will be financed through long-term borrowings and equity contributions from the partners, is part of the Map Ta Phut industrial port development. GMTP has a 35-year contract with the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand to develop and operate the facility, which will be built across 32 hectares of reclaimed land within the industrial port. The terminal, which will be Thailand's third LNG facility, will have an annual capacity of 8 million tons in the first phase. 'It will enhance Thailand's LNG import capacity to meet the growing energy demand in the industrial and power generation sectors, in line with the country's economic growth,' Gulf said. 'Additionally, it will support the use of natural gas as fuel for power generation at the group's gas-fired power plants in the future.' Founded by Sarath in 2007, Gulf has been diversifying in recent years and has become one of Thailand's largest conglomerates with interests in data centers, telecommunications, and digital infrastructures. Earlier this month, the company won a virtual bank licence. Last year, it partnered with Alphabet's Google to build AI-powered cloud facilities in Thailand and started a crypto currency exchange with billionaire Chanpeng Zhao's Binance. With a real-time net worth of $11.5 billion, Sarath is among the wealthiest in Thailand. Bulk of his fortune comes from his stake in Gulf, which has a market capitalization of about $19 billion.


Bloomberg
27 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Not Concern With High Prices: Faulkender on Tariffs
US Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, shares that he isn't worried about higher prices as President Trump's tariff deadline looms, and explains how the inflation data is backing his view. He also talks about the Trump Tax Bill and whether or not the legislation is on track to meet its July 4th deadline. Michael Faulkender speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg's 'Balance of Power.' (Source: Bloomberg)