The US and China agree to a transaction that lowers tariff levels
The US and China agreed to a trade agreement after face-to-face meetings with senior economic officials.
During the tariff riots of recent weeks, you may have noticed that you will pull random plates and mugs from your shelf and hand them over to learn what country they are from.
In many cases, the answer is China.
China ranks as the third largest source of imports in the United States in 2025, with $100 billion imports through March, according to census data. In all of 2024, China ranked second only to Mexico.
President Trump’s import duties campaign surprised consumers at the rise in prices on imports from around the world. However, many of the biggest fears are centered around China.
Trump announced a trade agreement that largely enacted a 145% import tax on Chinese products in April, and reduced it to 30% for now on May 11th. However, 30% is still a large number.
Already “custom tours”, if you take a walk around the house, turn over the lamps and couch cushions and discover their source, you already know how dependent you are on Chinese products.
“This may be a bit of awakening where everything we really come from,” said Alex Jack, Chief of Policy and Advocacy for Progressive Groundwork.
If you haven’t invented imports from your home, make sure you can lead the tour.
This is the amount of household goods from China
Our pans and pans breathtaking share, 90%, from China. A relatively small quotient (30%) of washer and dryer occurs there. But those numbers underestimate the full-scale Chinese imports.
“Even products that appear to be in another country embody important content that came from China,” said Adam Hirsch, a senior economist at the left-leaning Institute for Economic Policy Research.
Here is a list of 11 common household items, showing the percentage of all imported goods in 2024 that comes from China. This number was compiled using the US International Trade Commission’s DataWeb.
- cooking:66% are made in China. The next biggest source: Mexico.
- Pot and frying pan: 90% made in China. Next biggest source: India.
- Cooking utensils:87% made in China. Next biggest source: Vietnam.
- refrigerator:87% made in China. Next biggest source: Vietnam.
- tv set: 48% is made in China. The next biggest source: Mexico.
- Sofa: 43% made in China. Next biggest source: Vietnam.
- lamp: 48% is made in China. The next biggest source: Mexico.
- dress: 40% made in China. Next biggest source: Vietnam.
- toilet: 44% made in China. Main sauce (47%): Mexico.
- Vacuum cleaner:35% is made in China. Main sauce (42%): Vietnam.
- Washer dryer:30% is made in China. Next biggest source: Korea.
The current tariff contract between the US and China is only good for 90 days, but the two countries are negotiating. Then where are the customs fees? Even some trade experts hate to say it.
“That’s a million dollar question,” said Colin Grabow, associate director of the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies at Cato Institute. “You get the feeling that you’re making it up as they go.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
