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China’s Fast-Fashion Capital Slows Down Under Trump’s Trade War

Garment factories in Guangzhou are struggling to manage a tempest of geopolitical and economic headwinds.
Female workers produce garments for export at a workshop of a garment manufacturer in Zaozhuang, Shandong province, China on March 8, 2025.
Trump's eye popping tariffs are set to hit manufacturers and workers in countries like China hard. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
By
BoF PROFESSIONAL

Lingering at a day market for labourers in Panyu, an urban village on the outskirts of Guangzhou, Ms Qiu looks dejected. She is looking for a local factory that will hire her for the day to sew clothes – cheap tops and dresses that will be churned out on to China’s e-commerce platforms, or bundled up for export to western shoppers. But she is not having much luck.

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