China-US Trade Frictions: Washington's tariffs hit US products manufactured in China

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The Trump administration has already slapped 25-percent tariffs on 34 billion dollars' worth of Chinese tech goods. That amount will increase by 50 percent once more levies are enacted on Thursday. But as Mark Niu reports, the target list includes many products very popular with the younger generation.

Caught in the crosshairs of the trade war -- U.S. smart tech that's manufactured in China. Electric Scooters, smart bulbs and smart thermostats all face a 25-percent tariff.

At 18, Tiffany Zhong became a venture capitalist, and now at 21, runs a company that gathers market intelligence on teens.

TIFFANY ZHONG CEO, ZEBRA INTELLIGENCE "We grew up on these smarter products making our lives so much easier and so much faster. These tariffs will impact kind of which products we will continue buying if prices go up, which is a huge concern for companies and consumers."

Another popular trend among the young that could take a hit-vaping devices. China makes the vast majority of what are called vape box mods - which actually have computer chips in them greatly bringing down the cost of vaping.

CAMERON DINGLER MANAGER, SAN JOSE VAPE "It's a little concern that it could impact the industry more so on the hardware side of manufacturing vapes or in the case of e-cigarettes- mods as we call them. Just because a lot of the hardware is manufactured in foreign countries."

MARK NIU MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA "But here in Silicon Valley, so many companies rely on manufacturing in China to bring down production costs in order to take on the competition. And that can be especially important for startups."

Silicon Valley-based Amino Capital has invested in more than 100 startups. That includes being the first investor in Candy House, which created Sesame, a device that can be placed on almost any type of lock, to turn it into a smart lock.

Candy House is hoping to move manufacturing in China but uncertainty caused by the tariffs is making the decision harder.

LARRY LI FOUNDING PARTNER, AMINO CAPITAL "For them to be more competitive, it's very important for them to lower the cost. And if the companies can manage the costs really well, they can grow really well. And they will increase the staff in U.S., in Taiwan, and China."

Though Li is optimistic about the trade dispute being resolved, he says in the meantime, both countries lose out.

LARRY LI FOUNDING PARTNER, AMINO CAPITAL "In the short-term, definitely impact China more, but over the long-term, the US benefits the most from the global economy and the global trade. So over the long term, it's gonna impact the U.S."

Li believes the tariffs will force China to look for other markets, hurting the U.S. in the long haul by only making it more isolated. Mark Niu, CGTN, Mountain View, California.