China's vast southern province of Guangdong, crisscrossed with factories making everything from clothing to electronics, has long been the country's biggest manufacturing hub.
For decades, it has churned out products for the insatiable American consumer base, offering low prices few can compete with and serving as a key driver in China's meteoric rise to global economic superpower status.
But Trump's drive to bring manufacturing back to the United States and launch of a brutal trade war with China now threatens to upend that -- adding to the country's already grim economic outlook.
Xiao Junyi, a clothing factory owner in the province's largest city of Guangzhou, told AFP that the US market had accounted for between 20 to 30 percent of orders.
But after the tariffs were announced, "we were genuinely affected," he said.
"Our sales and orders clearly declined."
Many of his factory's products are sold to consumers in the United States via Temu, the low-cost overseas e-commerce platform operated by Chinese retail giant PDD Holdings.
In response to the US tariffs -- now 145 percent for most products and as much as 245 percent on others -- Temu issued a notice saying there will be reduced advertising in the US market going forward, Xiao said.
The 24-year-old factory owner said he was hoping to find other markets for his clothes.
"Aside from the United States, we can do business with the whole world," he said.
But he admitted it was "really unlikely" that other countries would replace the US market.
"The United States is a truly developed country, and the order volume is bigger."
- 'Boundless competition' -
Nearby, businesspeople from across the globe convened for the opening phase of the Canton Fair -- a colossal trade show held every spring and autumn.
The event serves as an opportunity for merchants from around the world to meet face-to-face with Chinese manufacturers and assess their products up close, establishing new supply arrangements or shoring up old contacts.
But buyers from the United States this year were few and far between.
Those that were there declined to comment when asked by AFP which products they were interested in -- or if the tariff war would complicate business.
One Chinese firm keen to make contacts was Wosen Lighting Technology, a supplier to US e-commerce juggernaut Amazon.
"It's a new round in the trade war," Andy Lin, the firm's business development manager, told AFP at one of its factories in nearby Zhongshan.
"It becomes a case where you add tariffs and I also add tariffs -- then it turns into a boundless competition," said Lin.
"This situation won't be able to last long, because after all, it has very real impacts on all countries," she added.
"I think it will especially affect the lives of the American people."
- 'Manufacturing powerhouse' -
The downturn in shipments to the United States could also affect the local manufacturing industry, for which Wosen provides several hundred jobs.
Nevertheless, factories visited by AFP this week in Guangdong were buzzing with activity as workers sat at production lines, the air filled with the clanging and whirring of conveyor belts.
Many manufacturers admitted the heightened trade war with the United States will cause turbulence for businesses.
But they hoped that would encourage them to find new customers in other countries.
The tariffs are also likely to cause pain among American consumers, with US Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell warning this week that they may increase inflation in the country.
As for China's reciprocal tariffs on US goods, Lin said she was not concerned about it affecting her lifestyle -- she is used to buying things on local e-commerce platforms from Chinese manufacturers.
"They can all basically be produced domestically," said Lin.
"After all, China is a manufacturing powerhouse. If you are not looking for certain special products, the impact will be small."
Chinese vent anger at Trump's trade war with memes, mockery
Beijing (AFP) April 18, 2025 -
While China's leaders use their economic and political might to fight Donald Trump's trade war "to the end", its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online.
The US president's tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin.
Trump says his policy is a response to years of being "ripped off" by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing back to the United States, forcing companies to employ US workers.
But China's online warriors have been taking advantage of the massive strides in artificial intelligence to create memes highlighting that many of the goods bought by Americans such as shoes and smartphones are made using cheap Chinese labour.
Defiant posts have shot to the top of most-searched lists on social media, flooding platforms with patronising comments and jokes.
In one video, a Chinese internet user opens his hands to reveal what goods he buys from the United States -- nothing.
His dozens of videos railing against the United States have accumulated tens of millions of views on TikTok, officially blocked in China but accessible through a virtual private network (VPN).
"Donald Trump started a trade war, so... F*** MAGA," he says in one video, referring to Trump's campaign slogan of Make America Great Again.
- 'Two-faced behaviour' -
The user, based in northeastern China's Liaoning province and who asked to be identified by his online persona "Buddhawangwang", told AFP the posts were a way of "venting my anger".
The 37-year-old poster said he moved to California in 2019 but "threw away" his green card four years later -- angry over "prejudices against China".
That included "fake news" about Xinjiang, the far-western region where Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses against minorities. China denies the claims.
Now, he feels vindicated in his quest to "debunk Western propaganda".
For many in China -- whose status as "the world's factory" fuelled its meteoric rise as an economic superpower -- the idea of Americans making their own shoes or phones is laughable.
AI-generated videos putting Trump, US Vice President JD Vance -- who sparked outrage with comments referring to "Chinese peasants" -- and tech mogul Elon Musk on footwear and iPhone assembly lines quickly went viral.
Others show rows of befuddled overweight shophands fiddling with sewing machines as Americans make clothes, shoes and electronic devices.
The alleged hypocrisy of US officials railing against China while enjoying the fruits of globalisation has also been targeted.
One post traced a dress worn by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to Chinese online shopping platform Taobao.
"Attacking 'Made in China' is work; enjoying 'Made in China' is life," one comment read.
"Two-faced behaviour. Don't wear it then, don't use it," another said.
Another post shared by Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning showed Trump's trademark "MAGA" hat marked "Made in China" -- with a price tag indicating an increased cost.
- 'Made in China' -
Elsewhere, Chinese users have taken to TikTok to show Americans how they can get around the swingeing tariffs -- going to China and buying goods straight from the source.
In one, a man in a warehouse claiming to work at a factory making Birkenstocks in the eastern hub of Yiwu sold pairs of the iconic sandal for just $10.
"We have seven colours," he says, pointing to multiple pairs of shoes displayed on a cardboard box with the words "Made in China" printed on it.
"If you need, please contact me," he added, gesturing towards stacks of boxes behind him.
"There certainly is nationalism here," Gwen Bouvier, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University who researches social media and civic discourse, told AFP.
The videos make "fun of how rude JD Vance is and, by extension, the Trump administration", Bouvier said -- a timely clapback against the vice president's "peasants" comments.
But beneath the humour there is likely deep concern over the impact of the trade war on China's export-dependent economy.
Censors on the country's strictly regulated internet appear to have scrubbed out narratives that warn of the effects they may have on Chinese consumers and manufacturers.
On China's X-like Weibo platform, all comments under the hashtag "The United States will impose a 104% tariff on Chinese goods" have been removed.
By contrast, the hashtag "America is fighting a trade war while begging for eggs" -- a reference to soaring prices for the kitchen staple -- was viewed 230 million times.
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