Tariffs 145%, Half of Dongguan's Factories Shutting Down, and Bosses Are Fleeing.

Dongguan, known as the world's factory with over 14,000 export enterprises, is being devastated by tariffs. When these factories can't ship goods, upstream and downstream orders collapse. One Taiwanese factory extended its one-day holiday to five days due to lack of work. To survive, export-oriented businesses are forced into domestic sales, flooding the market and crushing smaller factories. The three pillar industries—electronics, textiles, and machinery—are hit hardest. Before, electronics factories were crippled by a 25% tariff. A factory with 10,000 employees making Apple headphones now has empty dorms and slashed profits. Furniture and textile factories are cutting prices just to survive, but no one is buying. Machinery firms face a 30% surge in procurement costs due to reliance on U.S. technology. Factories are either raising prices or bleeding losses. Tariffs have wiped out profits and cut Dongguan's orders by nearly 70%. Factory owners are overwhelmed by debt and sleepless with worry. 80% now have destroyed credit. One mold factory went bankrupt, and the boss disappeared without paying wages. Employees are left abandoned. As one worker said, if your company hasn't paid in two months, run. Don't go down with the boss. Nearly half of the factories in Dongguan have closed following the U.S. tariff decision. Is there no work to do, or are they just staying in their hometowns? Look at Dongguan, the former industrial capital. Now the streets are empty. There are not many people, including for recruitment. In the past, there were queues and crowds of people every time Now there are only a few people. There are no applicants. Where did they go? As of April 11, 2025, Trump's second term has imposed tariffs on Chinese goods totaling 125%. The impact of high tariffs on China is immediate. A large number of videos circulating online show that Chinese private enterprises and bosses are wailing. The trade war has really begun, and it has hit our manufacturing bosses in the chest. We have also witnessed the history of this tariff. From the beginning, it rose by 34%, then to 104%, and now it has directly risen to 145%. What does this mean to us? First, the volatility of raw materials is very large. Second, foreign trade orders are directly cut in half, especially for those bosses who do American lines. Where should they go? Third, the stock market exploded in succession, and all sectors were in the red. Investors were really miserable. But the real horror was that these small and medium-sized enterprises with tight capital flow might not last more than three months and would really go bankrupt. The United States increased taxes, Europe increased taxes, Japan and South Korea increased taxes, and even Vietnam increased taxes. Brothers, the U.S. beef was just taxed by us, and then it was hit back. Can we withstand this global siege? Friends who do foreign trade know how difficult it is to handle foreign trade this year. The United States has imposed this 34% tax, and many companies can't bear it. With a tariff of 145%, how can the bosses of Yiwu who do foreign trade survive? The business in the market has been very bleak in the past two or three years. This year's exports to the United States are estimated to be 50% less. In the end, we can only look at the European market and the Southeast Asian market of the Belt and Road Initiative. On April 9, an employee in Jiangsu Province shared a video online showing an empty workshop, saying that the factory had stopped working and was on holiday. She had to wait for notice on when to resume work, and she was forced to find temporary work. Hello, friends. After the tariff policy came out, some companies have directly taken a two-month holiday and have no orders. Those who understand know that this time the situation is very, very bad, and the situation is very, very serious. Now the workshop is full of foreign goods, and it is not known whether they can be shipped out or whether the other party wants them. Now the situation is like this. The factory has stopped working and producing. Hundreds of people have been disbanded on the spot, and all U.S. orders have stopped today. As soon as the tariff war started, the company's U.S. orders were all canceled overnight. The company went on holiday. Look, there is no one. I am a real furniture foreign trade factory for the U.S. market. Many people say to hold on, but a foreign trade factory that makes furniture has received orders from customers to suspend orders and will not ship. The factory has no orders. What should the employees do? How to hold on to the expenses? Then what will happen if it continues? Then the goods that are shipped are about to reach the U.S. port at sea. What can I do? Let me show you. This product is for export. Due to yesterday's tariffs, all orders have been stalled. All shipments have been suspended. So many goods are stuck here. In this tariff trade war, small and medium-sized enterprises like us are the first to bear the brunt. The U.S. has increased its tariffs on China to 125%. My God, it seems that the wages of our factory workers have to be reduced again. The current economic environment is so bad. Many people say, will it affect my 3,000 CNY salary? It will definitely affect it. You know, because I can't get money, right? You must reduce wages. What should I do? I can't afford to lose money. You can continue to call me a black-hearted capitalist. 70% of bosses in Ningbo are operating in debt. I have been working in Ningbo for 11 years in corporate loan services. I have never seen a boss who is worse off than his employees. Orders have shrunk by half and there is no profit left. The triangular debts are getting bigger and bigger. The bank loans may not be repaid in this lifetime. Many bosses in Ningbo go to courts and banks the most. When they go to court, they are either defendants or plaintiffs. When they go to banks, they beg for loans in a humble manner. 70% of bosses have a thicker credit record than the Xinhua dictionary. Even if the gods come, they can't save them. Some bosses rely on mortgaging houses, cars, and factories to keep their factories alive. Some bosses rely on borrowing private funds to pay their employees. And more bosses can't borrow a dime. Some netizens said that the biggest victims of the U.S. tariff stick this time are actually the pockets of ordinary people. There is no winner in the tariff war, but ordinary people are the most hurt. The U.S. and China are now in a trade war. Gold and stocks have collapsed. Tesla and BYD factories have closed. Now companies that export electronics have begun to reduce their staff. That means that many people will have to find jobs again in the second half of the year. Those who are still waiting for a good job at home after the Chinese New Year should not come out. Plant some soybeans and raise a few cows at home in the second half of the year, because China has stopped importing these. The U.S. tariff stick is back, but this time it hits our wallets harder than Huawei or BYD. Prices are rising. Electric cars up by 3,000 yuan, iPhones by 500 yuan, and Tesla has paused its expansion. According to the Ministry of Finance, tariffs will increase household spending by 1,800 yuan annually. Three major ripple effects follow. Export companies lay off workers. Factories in the Yangtze Delta cut hours. Prices spiral upward, especially for EVs and solar products. And the job market shrinks, with foreign trade jobs dropping by 23%. A toy factory owner in Dongguan said U.S. orders halved, and his 200-person team now works only three days a week. In this tariff war, there are no winners. Only ordinary people lose. The first wave of casualties includes catering businesses. Popular BBQ buffets are closing down, especially those relying on cheap imported meats like pork, beef, and lamb. Rising ingredient costs have hurt performance. On the upside, chicken, duck, goose, and local aquatic food businesses are unaffected and may even benefit as consumers shift preferences. Now, enterprises in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai have begun to appear. Large areas of stranded people have already seen a tide of people returning home. There may be more people returning home than leaving. If you don't believe it, go to the train station and see that there are many people carrying bags, but they don't know where to go. Those who work in labor know that at present, enterprises in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai are almost full and have no shortage of people, so they either go back to their hometowns, live in train stations, sleep in parks, or choose to lie flat. Now, there are basically no enterprises to enter. If you really have pressure and want to go out to work, then you must think carefully and be able to accept a bad job. Scholar Mr. Cai told RFA that the CCP's internal circulation economy is failing. With the U.S. market lost, external circulation is also in trouble. As China pushes the U.S. trade war into extreme confrontation, Chinese factory workers, e-commerce sellers, and SMEs are bearing the brunt.