High egg prices, chip shortages? Trump's tariffs make businesses and the public foot the bill, a detailed analysis of the future of global Supply Chain reorganization.

Many people think that international trade policies have nothing to do with them, but as long as you buy eggs, use an iPhone, use toilet paper, drive a car, wipe your butt with toilet paper, or eat Candy cookies, you are already part of the global tariff and Supply Chain game.

Since Trump started the trade war in 2018, by 2025 he directly imposed "comprehensive tariffs", causing a major reshuffle of the global Supply Chain. This time, I will bring in real-life examples to simply explain how tariffs and the Supply Chain have led to this smoke-free yet extremely damaging economic war.

What is a tariff? You and I are silently paying taxes every day.

What is a tariff? It is an additional tax collected by the government on imported goods, such as:

I bought a vinyl record for 100 dollars from the United States, and if there is a 25% tariff, you will have to pay an additional 25 dollars.

And this amount of money is ultimately absorbed by the consumers, reflected in your and my wallets.

Timeline of the U.S.-China tariff trade war, Trump fired the first shot.

The following is an overview of the timeline of the US-China tariff trade war:

In 2018: Trump imposed tariffs on $360 billion worth of Chinese goods, citing China's theft of technology and forced technology transfer. This was followed by China's retaliation, imposing tariffs of $110 billion on U.S. agricultural and industrial products. The victims were American farmers, and the U.S. eventually issued subsidies to stabilize its own agricultural products.

2020: A temporary ceasefire between the two sides, with China promising to buy more American agricultural products and improve intellectual property protection, but most tariffs remain in place. When Biden took office, he still retained Trump's hardline policies towards China, highlighting bipartisan consensus.

2025: On April 2, Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on all imported goods. On April 9, he implemented reciprocal tariffs, imposing a 125% tariff on China, a 25% tariff on car imports, and other countries would retaliate with half of the tax rate imposed on the U.S.

Trump said quite frankly: "You tax me 67%, I reciprocate with 34%. That's called fair!"

Trump's radical tariffs have led to a full-scale confrontation with China, European allies, and Taiwan.

China: Starting from April 11, a 125% tax will be imposed on American goods.

Canada: Imposes a 25% retaliatory tax on American cars.

The EU, France, Italy, Taiwan and other countries have also fully rebounded.

Who suffers first under tariff policies? Companies shrink, consumers pay the bill.

Once the tariffs are added, the manufacturers will be most directly affected:

Price Adjustment: Consumers Foot the Bill

Lower costs: decline in quality

Change production location: Supply Chain is being restructured

For example, if there is $100 worth of steel plus a 30% tariff, the cost becomes $130. In the long term, this will lead to rising inflationary pressure, causing the prices of toilet paper, Candy, and cookies to increase.

Who sets the tariffs in the United States? The President is not the only boss.

Many people think the president is the most powerful, but there is still a division of labor:

Congress: The Constitution authorizes legislative adjustments to tariffs.

President: The International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( IEEPA ) can be invoked to impose taxes in the event of national security or economic threats.

Office of Trade Representative (USTR): Responsible for external negotiations and policy design.

US Customs (CBP): Actual tax collection at the port

Harvard professor Willie Shih said: The supply chain is not bad, it is too fragile.

Harvard professor Willie Shih pointed out in an interview that the biggest problem with the current supply chain is that it is "too reliant on specific countries or a single process." He cited the supply chain of sofas as an example:

Leather: America

Wood: Argentina

Foam: Netherlands

Assembly: Shenzhen, China

Then transported through the port to the central United States.

If there is a problem in one of the links, such as being taxed or stuck at the port, the entire sofa gets stuck, and then the price rises.

Why can't the United States bring back manufacturing? The key is the high cost.

Trump hopes to bring manufacturers back to the U.S. by imposing tariffs, but Shih pointed out:

Wages in the United States are 4 to 5 times higher than those in China and Mexico.

Assembled in China, the iPhone only requires $24 in labor costs for 4 hours, while it costs $160 in the United States.

Shih pointed out a key issue: unless it is a product like a jet engine, which has a "low human input ratio," otherwise, backflow is simply impossible.

The high price of eggs is not because the chickens are lazy, but because the feed imported from China has been cut off.

Shih also cited an example of why egg prices have skyrocketed, stating:

The feed that hens eat needs a nutrient called "Biotin."

The vast majority of Biotin comes from China. Once China restricts exports, American chickens will not be able to lay eggs, and egg prices will naturally soar.

Just-In-Time inventory is not a panacea; Toyota has given lessons.

Shih also takes Just-In-Time ( as an example, stating that JIT is meant to save inventory, but in the event of a disaster, not having materials is equivalent to breaking the Supply Chain.

The 2011 earthquake in Japan caused Toyota's chip factory to shut down, after which they switched to "setting inventory based on lead times" instead of relying solely on one Supply Chain.

China's Ports vs. America's Ports: Who is More Efficient? Just Look at the Number of Trucks.

Regarding which port has higher transportation efficiency, Chinese or American, Shih stated:

Shenzhen Port can handle 20,000 trucks in and out in a day, with up to 20 docks available for large vessels.

The major ports in the United States, such as Los Angeles/Long Beach, account for less than half of China's total.

China has prioritized infrastructure and has become a global logistics hub, while the United States is clearly lagging behind.

Why is there a chip shortage again? Because everyone is rushing to do AI.

Shih indicates that currently, almost all global GPUs are produced by TSMC ).

Building an advanced semiconductor manufacturing plant costs as much as 20 billion dollars.

The global demand has exploded, and there is not enough production capacity to supply all industries in the short term.

AI, smartphones, and servers are all competing for production capacity, and car manufacturers can only wait in line.

From Candy, strawberries to fertilizers, America's "import dependency" is much more than you think.

Candy prices are rising: this year, the cocoa bean harvest in Ivory Coast is poor.

Strawberry prices: California harvest workers are too expensive, so we have to rely on imports from Mexico.

Fertilizer Potash relies entirely on Canada: once the tariff war starts, American agriculture will be the first to suffer.

Global trade is not a bad thing, but in the future it will be "grouped together."

Shih predicts that the global Supply Chain will not collapse in the end, but:

There will be a "factional reorganization".

The US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea may form a group, while China and Southeast Asia will form another group.

People no longer rely entirely on each other, but it is also impossible to be completely self-sufficient.

Tariffs become economic weapons, and supply chains will be regionalized

In summary, Trump uses tariffs as a weapon to force concessions in negotiations, attempting to bring the global economic center back to the United States and reshape the global trade landscape. Harvard's Shih reminds us that the lowest cost is no longer the only principle; "flexibility" and "inventory" will be the keys to future success. Here are the three major key trends for the future:

Regionalization of the Supply Chain: Regional division of labor based on geopolitical factors, such as the "US-EU-Japan-South Korea Alliance vs. China-ASEAN System" will become more distinct.

Diversification of manufacturing locations: Companies no longer rely on a single country for outsourcing, but instead use their chosen region as the core and then shift production capacity to other places to reduce risks.

From extreme efficiency to stability and resilience: just-in-time production 019283746574839201Just-In-Time( mode will be converted to )Just-In-Case( mode.

This article discusses high egg prices and chip shortages? Trump's tariffs make businesses and the public foot the bill, providing a detailed analysis of the future of global Supply Chain restructuring. First appeared in Chain News ABMedia.