Chinese electric scooter maker Niu pushes forward into US despite imposed tariffs
- Niu is transferring increased tariff costs to consumers as trade war drags on
- The scooter company has plans to go into retail, chief executive Li Yan said
Niu Technologies, a Chinese electric scooter company, is pushing ahead with its plans to expand in the US despite the trade war and 25 per cent tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. US consumers will just have to pay more.
Niu was among the earliest batch of companies affected by the increased US duties on Chinese goods, in which the tariffs had been raised to 25 per cent before the company entered the US earlier this year, leading to higher prices for this market, Li Yan, chief executive of Niu said in an interview in Hong Kong last week.
“Our clients in the US have to bear the losses,” Li said. “I definitely hope the tariffs will be cut.”
The world’s two biggest economies have engaged in a prolonged trade war since last year, in which the US imposed higher tariffs on Chinese goods, with a spotlight on technology, a sector that China has aspired to lead.
A threatened US is moving to cut Chinese firms off from American scientific know-how, targeting Chinese tech companies that are global leaders in their respective fields, such as smartphone and telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies, by restricting their access to US hi-tech suppliers.