"I'm in big trouble" good Bloomberg article

Inside American Companies Reeling From Trump’s Trade War

Blue Ridge Home Fashions Inc.’s problem is feathers. For Empire Today, it’s vinyl planks. At Jammy Inc., there’s a whole bunch of things, from tail lights to reflective tape.

All three companies are on the losing end of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Their supply chains have been disrupted, their planning and forecasting thrown into chaos. The whole experience has been, in the words of Jammy Chief Executive Officer Ralph Bradley, a “real kick in the ass.”

Since Trump kicked off trade disputes with a big chunk of the world, these companies have been navigating to limit the financial pain -- and traverse the confusion. One day, a deal with Beijing seemed possible; the next, the president would vow to slap levies on everything the Asian nation sells to the U.S.


At Blue Ridge, based in Irwindale, California, there’s a different level of stress-out. The company’s second factory just opened in an old steel plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that’s big enough to add more sewing machines. The Trump tax overhaul reduced corporate tax rates for this year and gave CEO Ning He the capital to expand with the new facility, at a cost of more than $1 million.

Then Trump put feathers on his $200 billion tariff list. China is by far the biggest producer of fluffy down plucked from geese and ducks, the kind Blue Ridge stuffs into about 70 percent of the pillows and duvets it makes for retailers including Macy’s Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room for the company, which employs around 100 people and has had about $100 million in sales over the past three years.

“I’m in big trouble,” said Ning, 55, who became a U.S. citizen after immigrating from China three decades ago.


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-05/-i-m-in-big-trouble-corporate-america-reels-as-tariffs-pile-up