Ever since Donald Trump’s imposition of 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports, Andy Wang has been panic buying supplies from rice wine to plastic containers for his restaurant in New York’s Chinatown.
Wang said that the price hikes expected on Chinese goods could put the Taiwan Pork Chop House he founded 26 years ago out of business, and force him into early retirement.
“I have to stock up so I can keep operation costs stable for as long as possible,” he said in an interview in his restaurant basement surrounded by excess supplies. “Everything you see here, including some food ingredients, comes from China and the US either doesn’t have a substitute or has a very expensive one.”