What Chinese businesses really think of the tariffs

As many of you know, in addition to TheLowDown blog in English, Momentum Works also runs a blog in Chinese, which is actively followed by more than 50k readers interested in international markets, especially Southeast Asia. 

It is a pretty engaging audience, many of whom are actually impacted by the ongoing turbulence caused by the additional tariffs imposed not only on China, but pretty much every country/territory that may or may not export anything to the U.S. 

Last week, we did a poll on WeChat, where the blog was hosted, to get a sense of how this community of Chinese businesses looking outward (Chuhai) really feel about the tariffs. 

The question we asked: What do you think about the impact of US tariffs on Chinese companies going overseas?

To our surprise, 2034 people voted in the poll, making it one of the most participated polls we ever had on WeChat. Here are the results: 

While the poll sample is certainly not random or scientific, it does reveal some real sentiment on the ground. As you can see, the majority of the businesses actually take a passive stance – “wait and see” is the most popular option. 

But we have to remember that this is a very resilient bunch who have weathered through a lot of challenges in the past. They will find ways to survive, if not to thrive.

We have also captured some of the interesting comments people left in the poll. You can read them here:

• “For those companies that already set up factories in Vietnam, it’s not like they can just pack up and leave—there were heavy infrastructure investments.”
• “Looks like it’s time to consider breaking away from the dollar system.”
• “They’re trying to wipe us out completely.”
• “In recent years, Chinese firms rushed to build factories overseas. But can “Made in China” really be replaced? Without Chinese products, American living costs will surely rise. Can American society stay stable?”
• “This might be the best year we’ll see for quite some time.”
• “Our company just began trial production in Vietnam—already dead on arrival. All we can do is wait and see.”
• “Can’t we do business on our own without the U.S. getting involved?”
• “Everyone’s raising tariffs globally. Can we track how other countries are dealing with it? Where are they finding new markets?”
• “The U.S. raising tariffs on Southeast Asia isn’t just about trade deficits—it’s also targeting the broader East Asia region. In the long run, it may actually benefit the supply chains in Mexico and Canada.”