US tariffs on China goods are yesterday’s problem for exporters – it made some even stronger – but now they face a bigger threat

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Vacuum cleaners – seemingly innocuous, yet capable of bringing a company to its knees when subjected to politically motivated trade tariffs.

That happened to Shanghai-listed Ningbo Fujia Industrial in 2018, when the vacuum maker – then a major supplier to US firm JS Global Lifestyle – was slapped with punishing tariffs of up to 25 per cent on its exports to the United States.