US business executive Kinu Kelly came to the 137th China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou this week with one goal: to find Chinese suppliers who could make the goods she needs outside the country.
“Now, it’s imperative,” said the product development head from New York. “No exceptions.”
Kelly’s eagerness to diversify her supply chains is one way attendees at China’s largest and oldest trade show — known as the Canton Fair — are adapting to a new reality for global commerce after US President Donald Trump raised levies on most Chinese goods to as much as 145 per cent this month.