A ‘China Shock’ of Sorts Hits a Part of China

China has lost its competitive edge in several areas—notably, furniture making—because of Trump’s tariffs, but also because of fundamental cost considerations.

A man and a woman sit on a bench facing the Yantian International Container Terminals, where massive container ships are docked beneath rows of gantry cranes, in Shenzhen, China, on April 11, 2025. Cheng Xin/Getty Images

Commentary

Americans have long regretted what they call the “China shock”—how beginning in the 1980s, the United States lost manufacturing production and jobs to China’s powerful competitive pricing edge. The “shock” cut across almost all industries, from steel to plastic toys, from chemicals to shoes and clothing. The American furniture industry was all but wiped out. Devastation rained on towns like Hickory, North Carolina, where the American furniture industry was once centered.