China’s factories race to ship goods amid US trade truce: ‘everyone’s rushing’

SCMP | May 13, 2025, 8 a.m. | Original

A worker stitches pyjamas for export at a clothing factory in eastern China. Chinese producers are rushing to front-load shipments following the announcement of a 90-day truce in the US-China trade war. Photo: AFP

in Hong Kong , in Hong Kong and in Guangdong

Within hours of Beijing and Washington announcing a temporary truce in their ongoing trade war on Monday, production lines across China began grinding back into gear.

Chinese factory owners say they quickly received a barrage of messages from US buyers, demanding they resume production on orders that had been frozen due to sky-high tariffs – and expedite as many deliveries as possible.

Now, those beleaguered exporters are rushing to capitalise on the 90-day pause in the tariff conflict – while also preparing for what they perceive as an inevitable return to instability due to the turbulent leadership of US President Donald Trump.

Wang Jie, who runs a footwear factory in Guangdong province, had been forced to close down a production line in April, after her US clients suspended their orders following Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.

But the site is now operating at full speed once again, according to Wang, as those same clients urge her to ship their shoes while the tariffs remain relatively low .

“A client who has placed orders for May through August requested this morning that we resume production on the May order and deliver as soon as possible,” said Wang, adding that the fate of the orders for June to August would depend on the status of US-China trade negotiations.

Couple blamed other son for 7-week-old boy’s death, Hong Kong court hears Dragon Boat competition in Hong Kong to draw 4,500 athletes from 12 countries