For figures involved in all aspects of China’s trade – from exporters to government officials – the past 40 days have been a roller-coaster ride.
Zhejiang – a coastal economic powerhouse and the country’s second-largest exporter to the US – suffered acutely from the sky-high levies imposed by US President Donald Trump on Chinese goods in early April.
The scars could remain for a long time, even if tariffs are no longer at the triple-digit levels seen before Chinese and US officials finished trade talks in Switzerland. There has been widespread angst as the province reels from the impact of the trade war, in what some observers called an “extreme stress test”.
But in the torrid weeks before the de-escalation, Zhejiang sought to “Trump-proof” itself by guarding against the worst of the fallout. The extensive damage to the province’s economy, the pain businesses endured and how officials reacted could offer valuable lessons, even as the prosperous region was pushed to its limits.
“There are regions slow to pivot away from the US and they are paying the price … Monday’s deal could mean the last chance for businesses to change,” said Zhou Zheng, a senior analyst at China Macro Group, a consultancy firm headquartered in Zurich.
