There would be far more losers than winners
In the brewing trade war between the U.S. and China, the list of losers already outweighs the winners.
Here are some of the businesses affected on both sides of the Pacific.
Loser: America’s Midwest farmers
The Chinese tariffs are a huge blow to American growers, especially those in Midwestern states that Trump needs to win re-election in 2020. China is the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans. The trade is worth about $14 billion. Soybean prices dropped as much as 5.3 percent in Chicago, the most since July 2016.
Winner: South American growers
Brazil and Argentina are the main competitors to U.S. growers in the market for soybeans and corn. They’ll be eager to pick up any lost business, but they won’t be able to completely replace U.S. trade.
Loser: Tech companies with Chinese factories
The U.S. tariffs target the highend technology products made in China. That could mean that companies like Apple and Lenovo
China. That could mean that companies like Apple and Lenovo Group that operate significant Chinese production bases face higher costs or supply-chain disruption. The biggest blow by far is to almost $4 billion worth of flat-panel TV screens, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Loser: U.S. automakers (including Tesla)
China plans to slap tariffs on most vehicles including electric cars. Tesla is at particular risk as it relies on American-made vehicles for all its Chinese sales. Other U.S. carmakers such as General Motors and Ford Motor also manufacture in China.
One silver lining: Amer-
ican automakers that import electric vehicle batteries from China were spared from the U.S. tariffs. Batteries for items like power tools, watches and smoke alarms were hit instead. Winner: U.S. metalworks
The latest round of proposed U.S. tariffs target several specific categories of steel and aluminum made in China. That’s on top of duties announced last month, meaning that some forms of those products will face a 50 percent fee to reach the U.S., further boosting prices for some products. Loser: Generic drugmakers
Though the U.S. tariffs target Chinese drug makers, those on the losing side may be American pharmaceutical companies that make generics
such as Mylan NV. They’ll face having to pay more for raw ingredients, such as insulin used by diabetics and the anti-allergicreaction drug epinephrine. Loser: Chinese meat lovers
China is by far the world’s biggest buyer of soybeans, which are mostly crushed and fed to pigs. The soy tariffs could ultimately drive up costs for Chinese pig farmers and meat prices for 1.3 billion citizens. Loser: South Korea
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said growing trade protectionism and trade conflict between the U.S. and China could hurt the Korean economy, and he urged the country to prepare.
The nation sells huge volumes of parts and components that go into China’s final products.