China-US Trade Frictions: Manufacturers from China's northeast to adjust marketing strategy

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How are Chinese companies responding to the trade conflict? CGTN's GUAN YANG finds out what marketing strategies some manufacturers in northeast China's Liaoning province are planning.

The porters of "Made in China" - logistics and freight forwarding companies -- help handle the import and export services. And each new round of US tariffs means shipping agent Liu Jing has to double check what items are on the list, and what's not.

LIU JING SHIPPING AGENT, SHENYANG "We had tried to gather as much information as possible, from the customs and the local commerce bureau, to provide real-time and constructive solutions to our clients who trade with the US."

GUAN YANG SHENYANG, LIAONING PROVINCE "If the trade war between the two largest economies escalates, it won't just be the sectors on the tariffs list which are affected. Wider manufacturing businesses could suffer too, simply because of how integrated today's global supply chains are."

60 kilometers away from the capital of Liaoning Province is Faku county, one of China's largest ceramic production bases.

LIN MAO CHAIRMAN, SONGHAO CERAMIC PRODUCTS "The county's economy is driven by this business. Employment, tax revenue and infrastructure development all depend on ceramics."

Earlier this year, Lin's company secured an order worth 15 million US dollars from the US. He told CGTN the "Made in China" brand will never be as cheap as it used to be, and a price war with foreign competitors is out of the equation, because of rising operational costs.

LIN MAO CHAIRMAN, SONGHAO CERAMIC PRODUCTS "The reason why we can win over our foreign competitors is efficiency. We understand what our foreign customers want and we intend to meet their desires quicker than anyone else."

Most of Lin's products have survived Trump's tariffs list for now. But as the trade battle between China and the US looks like it might escalate, Lin thinks the extra burden will be on the consumer.

LIN MAO CHAIRMAN, SONGHAO CERAMIC PRODUCTS "I think what will happen at the end is that, as the quality of Chinese products improves, this idea of 'made in China' will be indispensable to US consumers. So, people in the US are the ones who will foot the extra tax bill."

China is hoping the US would revoke the measures that violated the WTO rules, and bring bilateral trade back to normal. And as for the Chinese manufacturers, many are already looking for alternative markets elsewhere. GUAN YANG, CGTN.