The emails started pouring in on April 9, the day U.S. President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese imports took effect. Clients were canceling orders for toys from Huntar Company’s factory in Guangdong province, China.
But Huntar CEO Jason Cheung, 45, had already halted production at the 55,700-square-meter facility in the city of Shaoguan. He saw the tariff for what it was: an existential threat to his company, which manufactures educational toys bound for the shelves of Walmart and Target, such as Learning Resources Inc's Numberblocks, which help teach kids math.
"I needed to start saving money as soon as possible,” Cheung said.
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