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In a world besieged by turmoil, Jacob Rothman thought he had secured a refuge. Mr. Rothman, 52, grew up in California but has spent more than two decades in China, overseeing factories that make grilling accessories and other kitchen items for Walmart and retailers around the globe. Well before the rest of the business world, he grasped the pressures bearing on the relationship between his native country and the one where he runs his business.
President Trump used his first term to impose tariffs on imports from China. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. advanced that policy. The pandemic exposed the pitfalls of American reliance on Chinese factories for an array of goods, from parts for ventilators to basic medicines.
Mr. Rothman and his company, Velong Enterprises, had correctly anticipated demand for alternatives to Chinese industry. He had forged a joint venture in Vietnam, and two more in India. He had set up a wholly owned factory in Cambodia. Come what may, he figured, he could shift production to limit his exposure to tariffs, conflicts and natural disasters.
“I thought I was really ahead of the game,” Mr. Rothman said this week, still absorbing the shock of the one thing he had not seen coming — a veritable tsunami of tariffs that hit dozens of countries at once. “It’s apocalyptic,” he said. “People don’t know what to do next.”
Even after the White House last week paused most tariffs on every country except China, Mr. Rothman remained shaken. “What does ‘safe’ even mean anymore?” he said. “With a chaos-first foreign policy, even Southeast Asia may no longer be immune.”
He assumed that tariffs could eventually be imposed on the region as the Trump administration treated Southeast Asia as an extension of Chinese business interests.
The Trump administration’s broad salvo this week appeared to decimate that strategy. American imports from China face duties reaching 125 percent. Duties on imports from Vietnam were set to increase to 46 percent, and Cambodian goods encountered tariffs of 49 percent. India faced 27 percent levies.
For the moment, the pausing of many tariffs has left China uniquely vulnerable. But importers are cognizant that levies on the rest of the world — and especially Southeast Asia — could be revived. The result is chaos, bewilderment and delay that presages rising consumer prices.
“Supply chains require long-term planning that is nearly impossible in the current environment,” said Ryan Petersen, chief executive of Flexport, a global logistics company based in San Francisco. “So many businesses are paralyzed and craving stability.”
That described the state of play for Mr. Rothman, and the kitchen items his factories make.
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