Just beyond the entrance to the Trump Store in Trump Tower was a clothing rack on which hung eight red zip-up sleeveless vests with “Trump New York” on the left breast.
“Made in China,” read words in much smaller letters inside each garment.
Such labeling is required by Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which states that every imported item must be “conspicuously and indelibly marked in English… its country of origin.”
The law, also known as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, was instituted by President Herbert Hoover and imposed protectionist duties on imported goods. It led to what has been called “the mother of all trade wars” and is widely considered a major factor in the Great Depression.
The tariffs were abandoned. The markings remain as a reminder of what is made where and as a guide for anybody who might want to put America first in their own personal way without upending the world economy.
On the rack beside the Chinese vests was a dark blue half-zip pullover with “Trump New York” emblazoned on the chest and an American flag on the left upper arm.
“Made in Vietnam,” read a white tag sewn inside, also small enough to be overlooked, but big enough to be in keeping with the law.
Next to the rack a basket containing a half-dozen teddy bears clad in white bathrobes, each with a golden Trump crest embroidered on the chest.
“Made in China,” read these little white tags.
Then came another clothing rack with a dozen pairs of pants, some blue, others white.
“Made in Peru.”
Further on were various other Trump items–including t-shirts, MAGA hats and a Lara Trump Signature Bra Top–that had much larger tags announcing, “Made in USA.”
As these specific items were not imported, the country of origin labels were voluntary. The apparent intent was to announce that here were actual American products and to appeal to the customers’ patriotism. (The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.)
But the store was also offering a pink Trump sports shirt with “Made in the Philippines”; a Trump oven mitt with “Made in India”; a Trump women’s baseball cap with “Made in Vietnam”; and a Trump toy stuffed airplane with “Made in China.”
At the start of the week, President Donald Trump was talking about imposing punishing “reciprocal” tariffs on top of an-across-the-board 10 % duty on goods from more than 75 countries. The stock market crashed and there were fears of Hoover-esque calamity before Trump announced that he was putting the added tariffs on hold for 90 days.
The one exception was China, which Trump is hitting with a 145 percent tariff in total, at least according to Thursday’s estimate from the president himself. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told CNBC’s Melissa Lee on Closing Bell: Overtime Tuesday that Trump told him, “I don’t blame China, I blame the people who sat back and let this occur.”
Trump had apparently been referring to those who permitted a growing trade imbalance that greatly favored China and caused factory after factory to close in America. But he surely did not include those such as himself, who have long sought greater profits by stocking a store with cheap Chinese goods when there were other options.
In the Trump store this week, it seemed there were no country of origin labels on two shelves of blue and red boxes containing the Donald Trump Wireless Bluetooth Speaker and bearing the words Make America Great Again.
A cellophane window in each box showed that the speaker was a miniature bust of Trump wearing a red tie, a blue suit coat with an American flag lapel pin and a red hat bearing the MAGA mantra.
With multiple patriotic references and no immediately apparent indication of the country of origin it was tempting to assume the mini Trump was American made despite the absence of a “Made in the USA” tag.
But a check of the boxes showed that all but one had a very small white sticker placed on a particular spot. The lone exception showed the words that the stickers covered on the others: “Made in China.”
The mini-Trump was priced at $28, likely cheaper than if it had been “Made in the USA.” But if Trump were interested in boosting American manufacturing, he could have found or made something similar much the same for a few dollars more. He could do the same for all the other items in the Trump store and just put one big sign by the entrance: “MADE IN AMERICA.”
Maybe before Trump talks about adding his visage to mount Mount Rushmore, he could stop selling cut-price Chinese effigies of himself in his store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
And, maybe he can lead his MAGA followers in buying American and boosting manufacturing in the U.S. without pursuing what threatens to become the mother of the mother of all trade wars. MAKE AMERICA MAKE AGAIN!
The post We Found a Shop Trump’s China Tariffs Will Clobber. It’s Trump’s appeared first on The Daily Beast.
