Workers finish Red Santa Claus hats for export at factory near Yiwu in Z Jiang Province, China on April 28, 2025.
Kevin Freyer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Beijing – US-China tariff reductions address major issues, even temporary: Christmas gifts.
According to CNBC’s calculations based on data from the National Retail Federation, nearly fifth sales of US retail sales last year came from the Christmas holiday season. This period saw a record 4% increase in sales to a record $994.1 billion.
“The speed of the Chinese factory allows this 90-day window to solve a large part of the US Christmas season product shortage,” said Ryan Zao, director of exporter Youngs Green Willow Textiles, Jiangsu Province, on Monday, that CNBC translated in Chinese.
His company suspended production last month for a US client. He hopes that US buyers will resume their orders to the same level as before new tariffs began as they have found alternatives to China-based suppliers in the past few weeks.
US retailers usually order a few months in advance, manufacture products to factories in China, and provide enough lead time to ship them to arrive in the US ahead of a major holiday. The sudden tariffs of two global superpowers in early April forced some companies to halt production, raising questions about whether supply chains could resume work in time to get products on Christmas shelves.
“The 90-day window has a potential Christmas disaster for retailers,” said Shanghai-based Charenon Johnson on Monday, a senior partner at consulting firm Tidalwave Solutions.
“It won’t help Father’s Day [sales] Also, prices will rise overall as sales will be affected back to school and add additional duties and logistics costs,” he said.
However, the US obligations for Chinese products have not completely disappeared.
The Trump administration added 20% to tariffs on Chinese goods in two stages earlier this year, citing suspicions of the country’s role in the US fentanyl crisis. Addictive drugs, a precursor produced primarily in China and Mexico, have resulted in overdose deaths in the US every year in tens of thousands
In the Tit-for-Tat trade zone, more than 100% of the duties rose in exports from both countries.
Most of these tariffs have been suspended for 90 days under the US-China New Deal, announced Monday, but the previously imposed tariffs will remain intact.
UBS estimates that the total weighted average US tariff rate for Chinese products is currently around 43.5%, including existing obligations imposed over the past few years.
For running shoes produced in China, total tariffs are currently 47%, well above the 17% level in January, said Tony Post, CEO and founder of Topo Athletic in Massachusetts. He said his company received some cost savings from factories and suppliers in China, but it would need to raise prices slightly to offset the impact of tariffs.
“This is good news, but I hope that both countries can reach an acceptable permanent agreement,” he said. “We are still committed to our Chinese suppliers and feel at ease that we can continue to work together, at least for now.”
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US retail giant Walmart refused to confirm the impact of the tariff reduction on orders from China.
“We are encouraged by the progress made over the weekend and will say more during the revenue call later this week,” the company said in a statement to CNBC. The US retail giant is scheduled to report its quarterly results on Thursday.
Exports to the US to China fell by more than 20% in April from a year ago, while overall Chinese exports to China rose by 8.1%, official data showed last week. Goldman Sachs estimates that around 16 million Chinese people are linked to the production of products aimed at the US
