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Japan’s Sony, Ricoh and Asics join manufacturers’ mass exodus from China’s factories as US tariffs on made-in-China products bite

  • Sony, Ricoh and Asics are among some of the Japanese companies that have announced the relocation of some of their production away from mainland China

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A Sony production at Huizhou Zhongkai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Huizhou in Guangdong province on 14 February 2003. Photo: SCMP/Handout
Bloomberg

Top Japanese companies including Sony, Ricoh and Asics are orchestrating shifts in production away from China, joining manufacturers from other countries seeking to sidestep US tariffs.

Sony said last week that trade-war levies may cause it to raise prices or move production of PlayStation consoles, cameras and projectors outside China, steps that could affect profit for the year ending March by about 10 billion yen (US$94 million).

Ricoh, which got about 28 per cent of revenue from the Americas last fiscal year, completed the transfer of production for high-speed printers to Thailand from Shenzhen, China in July.

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President Donald Trump’s escalation of a trade war with China is disrupting supply chains as companies from Nike to Giant Manufacturing seek alternatives such as Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan to build factories.

Last week, Trump proposed adding 10 per cent tariffs on another US$300 billion in imports from China starting September 1, deepening a trade dispute that has roiled markets and weighed on economic growth worldwide.

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