Amid Tariffs, Chinese Factory Starts Production On Trump Campaign Flags

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pauses during his campaign speech to hug the American flag Saturday, June 11, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
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As President Donald Trump levies tariffs and threats against China for “stealing American jobs,” a Chinese factory says it’s been hired to manufacture flags for Trump’s 2020 campaign, according to a Tuesday episode of NPR’s “Indicator” podcast.

Factory owner Li Jiang told NPR that his workers are producing hundreds of thousands of blue and white Trump flags similar to those they manufactured for his 2016 campaign. Per NPR, the Trump campaign ordered so many more flags than the Clinton campaign in 2016 that Chinese locals near the factory joked that they knew the outcome of the election before anyone.

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., the committee organizing Trump’s reelect run, has publicly committed to buying American, saying that “we put America First and take great pride in selling 100% Made in the USA products to our supporters throughout the country.” It is unclear if the committee was the body that entered into the contract with the Chinese factory.

Jiang told NPR he was unconcerned about the possibility that his flags could be a casualty of the escalating American-Chinese trade conflict.

“We are not so worried because first of all, we have a big price advantage over our competitors,” he said. “And our clients are very smart. They would always go to the cheapest place. If China is cheap, they go to China. If America is cheap, they go to America.”

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