Businesses are resorting to risky tactics to dodge Trumps 145% tariff on Chinese products

Businesses across the US and China are scrambling to find ways to skirt President Trump’s steep tariffs on Beijing imports – and some are resorting to risky tactics to run the goods through other countries, The Post has learned.US manufacturing orders from China dropped by nearly two-thirds in the first week of April, versus a week earlier before Trump announced his stiff “Liberation Day” tariffs, according to logistics data provider Vizion.Trump reportedly signaled on Wednesday that he may slash the 145% China tariff by more than half.In the meantime, some importers stuck with goods on the water have re-routed shipping to Canadian and Mexican ports with the hope of paying the lower 25% tariff imposed on the US’s North American neighbors, according to Jon Monroe, a Shanghai-based shipping consultant.“Right now people are parking containers until they can figure out what’s happening,” Monroe told The Post.Elsewhere, major US companies with big footprints in China are looking to rapidly shift manufacturing to other Asian countries — including Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and India — which are currently enjoying a 90-day pause on reciprocal duties, leaving them with a 10% universal tax.“It is a well-known fact there are consulting firms in China that will help you move your production down to Vietnam or Malaysia,” said George Kochanowski, a supply chain expert and co-founder of Staxxon, a supplier of shipping containers.“They will provide the warehouse, that you don’t have to build yourself, and they will provide bilingual employees that speak the local language.”Some importers already stuck with Chinese-made goods are trying to skirt duties by storing them in so called bonded warehouses in the US, which allow them to avoid paying tariffs — at least temporarily. But that comes with its own risks.“It is something that people are talking about now even though it’s expensive to store stuff in these warehous...