One of China’s largest manufacturers of pens and stationery – which rakes in 40 per cent of its sales from America alone – has been forced to write off deals April, when US President Donald Trump ramped up tariff rates with a squiggle of his big, black marker.
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With shipments to the US functionally collapsing, Beifa Group in the eastern province of Zhejiang is scrambling for alternative markets, but its founder knows he cannot find new business with the simple stroke of a pen.
He has travelled to countries as far as Egypt since Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff blitz began. But now in his 60s, battling jet lag and anxiety to sign up new partners, one country is still on his mind.
The pen manufacturer is determined to continue exporting to the US, albeit via third countries as a bypass.
Beifa’s annual sales in the US are worth US$60 million, and many jobs are at stake.
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Qiu Bojing, son of the Beifa founder and the company’s vice-president, told the Post that exports to the US have fluctuated lately.