Trump’s China tariff shocks US importers. One CEO calls it ‘end of days’

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-china-36df035fc02b45e498cc50f213536e79

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Woldenberg thought he had come up with a sure-fire plan to protect his Chicago-area educational toy company from President Donald Trump’s massive new taxes on Chinese imports.

“When he announced a 20% tariff, I made a plan to survive 40%, and I thought I was being very clever,” said Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, a third-generation family business that has been manufacturing in China for four decades. “I had worked out that for a very modest price increase, we could withstand 40% tariffs, which was an unthinkable increase in costs.”

His worst-case scenario wasn’t worst-case enough. Not even close.

An employee of Learning Resources, an educational toy company, works at a warehouse in Vernon Hills, Ill., Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
An employee of Learning Resources, an educational toy company, works at a warehouse in Vernon Hills, Ill., Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The American president quickly upped the ante with China, raising the levy to 54% to offset what he said were China’s unfair trade practices. Then, enraged when China retaliated with tariffs of its own, he upped the levies to a staggering 145%.

Woldenberg reckons that will push Learning Resource’s tariff bill from $2.3 million last year to $100.2 million in 2025. “I wish I had $100 million,” he said. “Honest to God, no exaggeration: It feels like the end of days.”


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