Chang Jiang Supermarket is not a typical supermarket that is found in a typical venue like Flushing, Queens. The market has aisles running all the way from soy sauces to fresh produce to even seaweed snacks—all of which serve the palates of an entirely Asian neighborhood. Sidewalks become crowded with boxes, while colorful storefronts beam out their signs in Chinese.
Like many great immigrant communities, grocers like Chang Jiang tend to serve as lifelines for consumers. They typically have staples that can’t be located in other stores – for example, Lao Gan Ma chili oil, dried plums, and Indian cake rusks. However, nowadays, the uncertainty of the future surrounds these small establishments.
Caught in the crossfire of a trade war
Caught in the escalating trade war between the United States and China, businesses like these take a beating. For some countries, tariffs were suspended on imports from China; it still met with a killing rate as high as 145% after a series of retaliatory hikes. Chang Jiang, like many other Asian-owned grocery stores, obtains a large importation of goods from China, and there is no denying that such policy action is damaging the supply chain access.
” There will be no inventory (from China) in the market after two months if the tariff doesn’t come down,” said Wu, Manager of Chang Jiang Supermarket, in Mandarin.
Rising prices — and disappearing products
Across the entire country, shoppers can expect price hikes for several items: seafood, coffee, fruit, cheese, nuts, and candy. Low-income families, for whom groceries cost a much larger portion of their budget, will get hit hardest by these increases.
Already, best said by Wu, the suppliers are advising price increases of 30 percent, 40 percent, and even 50 percent for new orders at Chang Jiang. Some suppliers have stopped sending products altogether. Rationing of items – he now sees only 5 or 10 instead of 100 – has also started.
It hasn’t yet started, but Wu warns that once prices go beyond the ceiling of current stocks, there will be price increases. Perhaps even from Taiwan or Southeast Asia for much-needed sources.
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Ripple effects beyond New York
These trade war aftereffects will be felt across the country. In Arcadia, California, however, Wing Hop Fung, an Asian market that is family-run, faces similar pressures. “Containers from China come with six-figure tariff bills,” said Lan Ong, who helps run the business her parents started in 1985. These charges must be paid for immediately, squeezing margins already tight.
In this way, uncertainty has rendered small businesses in Honolulu’s Chinatown paralyzed: “Nobody wins in this trade war,” said Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the local business association. New York’s bigger picture Demand is growing for international grocery items in the U.S. According to the estimates of Fortune Business Insights, the global market for specialty foods will reach $153.2 billion by 2032. H Mart, Patel Bros., and 99 Ranch are fast-emerging chains, all doing robust business. Unfortunately, most of the smaller, internally owned stores don’t enjoy the scale to absorb such shocks.
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