US-China Trade War May Hit Jewelry Industry

RAPAPORT... The Chinese diamond and jewelry industry is facing highimport tariffs to the US as trade tension escalates between Washington andBeijing. On July 10, the US Trade Representative has announced plans for aproposed 10% hike on products from China that have an annual trade value of $200billion, with various raw materials and accessories used in the jewelry tradelisted in President Donald Trump's new tax proposal. Among these items are rough "miners'" diamonds, unworked,sawn, cleaved or bruted; industrial diamonds; diamond dust and powder; woodenjewelry boxes; glass beads, pearls and imitation stones; gold or silverarticles, including metal clad with gold or silver; and articles of preciousmetal, other than gold or silver. While the tariffs will be reviewed at an August 20 to 23hearing before being implemented, the proposed levies contradict the earliersentiment throughout the industry that the trade would not be affected. Chinaexports very few rough stones, while the US imports only a small number.Therefore any diamond trade between the countries primarily involves polishedstones, which were not included on the roster. As yet, the list also does not include hikes on finished-jewelryproducts, a large category for China, which manufactures many silver, gold andplatinum pieces for large US brands. Image: Juliya_Ka / Shutterstock