With tariffs among the hot topics at the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium show this week, gift companies told GiftsandHome.net how it’s been affecting business.
“We’re very much affected by Trump’s tariffs at the moment,” confirmed David Ruben, founder and ceo of Diabolical Gifts. “We had literally just started to fulfil with Amazon USA and, within a week of us doing that, we’ve had to stop sending any more goods in because there’s no profit in it at all. In addition, over the last year and a half, we’ve been building u[ a profile on Faire with very good independent gift customers. About 50% of our business on Faire has been to the United States and, as soon as that $800 loophole went away, the tap turned off. Therefore the tariffs have significantly affected our business.”
Mulberry Studios’ Adrian Boyle, who was at the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium show with co-founder Paul Ablett, and had this to say: “We’re a UK company but we have a division in the USA which makes up over half of our turnover. Suddenly we have been faced with a challenge where the tariffs are going up which makes it economically impossible, so we are having to play the game along with a lot of other UK companies as to whether we ship things in the hope that the tariffs will drop, or whether we stop production, or whether we hold them. Plus, in the many conversations we’ve had with UK gift industry people here in Hong Kong, we’re aware that a lot of Chinese companies are shutting because they cannot afford to keep going. Therefore, even though they may be supplying the UK with 20% of their business, 80% of their business that’s going to the US is closing, and that will, of course, have a big impact on the UK supply chain.”
Added Courtney Wood, founder and managing director of Bubblegum Stuff: “It seems like Trump is beginning to lose his negotiating power on tariffs. He’s gone in with much bravado, but I think that maybe his negotiating mask is slipping and he’s getting pressure from big retailers such as Walmart, Target. He doesn’t want the shelves to dry up in America, so he is going to be sitting round the negotiating table.”
Thomas O’Brien, managing director of Boxer Gifts, highlighted that he had been hearing good news from Chinese factories that Walmart & Target have started shipping from China again this week following their meeting with Donald Trump. “However, if the President has promised these big retailers something can the rest us be told too, please!” he stated. “America is built on small businesses like Boxer Gifts who pay their taxes and employ hundreds of thousands across the country. It’s only fair we have the same information to plan with.”
Meanwhile, in the UK, Talking Tables were quoted in an article in the FT on Monday (28 April). “The impact of the high US tariffs on the movement of goods from China to the US has resulted in us quickly pivoting to source our products from other countries that have lower tariffs,” said the company’s Mark McCormack. “We had begun this process some time ago and are grateful to our supplier partners for the speed they have been able to react to this situation. The US remains an important market for us but very few of our product categories will ever be manufactured there.”
Top: The UK contingent are shown at a networking reception at the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair to celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary. Shown are: third from left, David Reuben. Founder of Diaboloical Gifts, Retail100’s Sara Allbright and Anna Berry, GiftandHome.net’s Sue Marks (centre), Meg and Coral Hawkins of Meg Hawkins, and Nelly Ng, gift sourcing at John Lewis.
