As the trade war between the United States and China continues, organizations across the world are keeping an eye on the burgeoning conflict as President Trump increases tariffs on Chinese-manufactured goods to counter unfair trade practices, and China’s Finance Ministry announcing that China would impose a similar 25 percent tariff on American goods.Recently, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), interviewed Marlin Steel CEO Drew Greenblatt for his perspective on the trade conflict between the U.S. and China.
Here are some highlights from the video:
Chinese Firms Are Plagiarizing American Companies’ Patents
On many occasions, Marlin Steel’s legal teams have discovered Chinese-based companies using screenshots of Marlin’s custom metal forms on their websites to sell their products. In some cases, the intellectual property (IP) thieves are so brazen that they don’t bother to remove the watermark!
This blatant theft of American IP is one of the unfair trade practices that lies at the root of the trade war between the USA and China. By stealing IPs rather than investing in their development, Chinese companies are skipping the resource investment required, enabling them to undercut American-made competitors who did invest the time and money into their R&D. President Trump’s raising tariffs on China is a direct counter to this unfair competitive advantage.
As Marlin’s CEO states in the NHK interview: “We need to have strong protections of intellectual property rights. China cannot steal our intellectual property rights anymore—it’s gotta stop now.”
Both Sides Are Planning to Increase Tariffs
In the video featuring Drew’s interview, NHK highlights that China is planning to respond to the U.S. raising tariffs on China. China raising tariffs on U.S.-made goods and raw materials will intensify the trade dispute between the two countries further, while companies in both countries that rely on imported goods will feel the squeeze as profit margins shrink or they are forced to increase costs.
In fact, according to an article featured in NHK World-Japan, the USA’s new tariffs are impacting business decisions made by Chinese companies. The article cites an example from a Chinese furniture company that decided to, “Close its export operation and focus on the domestic market” to avoid paying the 25% tariffs on goods shipped to the U.S. from China.
Similarly, in the U.S., many companies that rely on cheap Chinese imports for their stock are being faced with the choice of either cutting their profit margins to maintain competitive pricing, or passing along their increased costs to their customers.
As the trade war deepens with no signs of compromise on either end, the Marlin Steel team continues to take pride in using American-made steel to create truly American-made custom wire forms of all shapes and sizes.
If you need a custom wire basket as soon as possible, reach out to the team at Marlin Steel today.