- Chinese factory workers are protesting unpaid wages as U.S. tariffs trigger mass closures and layoffs.
- Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese imports may put up to 16 million jobs at risk, sparking national unrest.
- Despite growing tensions, Trump says he has no plans to speak with Xi, while China scrambles to strengthen ties abroad.
Factory workers across China are hitting the streets in growing numbers—angry, tired, and unpaid. The reason? U.S. tariffs, and more specifically, Trump’s aggressive 145% duty on Chinese imports that’s squeezing the life out of local industries.
According to Radio Free Asia, demonstrations over back pay and sudden layoffs have started popping up all over the country. Entire factories are shutting down with no notice, no compensation, nothing. It’s chaos for folks who rely on those jobs just to make it day by day.
Factories fold, protests grow
In the southern province of Hunan, a sports gear factory shut its doors without warning last month—workers didn’t get severance or even basic social security coverage. Naturally, hundreds protested. In Tongliao, construction workers threatened to jump off buildings unless their back wages were paid. That’s how dire things have gotten.
One 26-year-old toy factory worker in Zhejiang told the Financial Times his company made him take two unpaid weeks off because the U.S. was their main customer—and orders have basically dried up.
Economists aren’t surprised. Goldman Sachs estimates the tariffs could put 16 million Chinese jobs at risk across various sectors. Sixteen million.
Tariffs hit hard, Beijing scrambles
China’s industrial sector is clearly hurting. In April, factory activity slumped harder than it had in over a year. New export orders? Lowest they’ve been since the early pandemic days. Even Beijing’s top brass admitted the tariffs are having a real impact.
And while President Xi hasn’t addressed the unrest directly, he’s been quietly making moves—visiting neighboring countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, and sending diplomats to Europe and the UK to, well, patch things up or find new allies.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also been reaching out overseas, trying to soften the economic fallout. But back home? The discontent is simmering.
Trump says everything’s “fine,” but talks? Not happening
Trump, meanwhile, insists things are going “fine with China,” though he told reporters aboard Air Force One this weekend he doesn’t plan to talk to President Xi anytime soon. “Our people are talking,” he said, without offering much else.
He also posted on Truth Social about the ongoing situation, claiming the U.S. doesn’t need anything from China anymore—cars, lumber, energy, whatever. “They need everything from us,” he wrote. Bold claim.
Still, between the protests, collapsing exports, and rising anxiety among China’s industrial leaders, it’s clear these tariffs are shaking more than just trade numbers—they’re shaking livelihoods.
