Donald Trump’s 2020 Campaign Says It’s ‘Fake News’ That Their Flags Are Made In China
Earlier this week, Reuters news agency reported that a Chinese company called Jiahao Flag Co Ltd is in charge of producing flags and banners for President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. Ready to ship, emblazoned with the words “Keep America Great!,” the re-election flags, in an ironic twist of fate, may get burned by tariffs Donald Trump himself has imposed on Chinese exports, Reuters suggested.
The company has turned out about 90,000 banners since March. The tariffs have not gone up yet, so the Chinese factory is taking advantage of that and producing flags at a record pace, according to a Chinese manager who spoke to Reuters.
“I know that Trump’s tariffs targeting China will have some effect, but we’re not worried at all, since we’re producing foreign flags every single day,” a factory seamstress concluded for the news agency.
In an effort to counter the viral news story, President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign denied using foreign-made election paraphernalia. In a statement supplied to CNN, Michael Glassner, the campaign’s chief operating officer called the story “fake news.”
“We have made it clear all along that all of our merchandise is 100% made in the USA. Any vendor who claims to have a relationship with us otherwise is lying or violating our protected trademark rights. This applies to all of the recent fake news about Made in China products for the 2020 campaign.”
But, this is not the first time a business relationship between Chinese factories and Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign paraphernalia has resurfaced. Earlier this month, NPR talked to one of their Chinese collaborators, Echo Wang. The woman told the host that another factory, in a different Chinese province, is making flags for Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. All flags have “Made in China” written on them, she added.
Trump campaign denies reports "Keep America Great" reelection flags are being made in China https://t.co/e2GMDfYwrd pic.twitter.com/fiki3Ek42J
— The Hill (@thehill) July 29, 2018
According to another report, also published this month by the Business Insider, Trump-themed flags and hats produced in China are being held up at U.S. customs, amid the trade war the president continues to escalate with the Asian country.
Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have been escalating ever since Trump took office. The president has, repeatedly and publicly criticized China, announcing a series of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. Yesterday, as the Independent reported, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to cut tariffs on hundreds of Chinese goods.
The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would cut or eliminate tariffs on around 1,660 items made in China. The bill has passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives unanimously, and will soon be sent to the president to sign into law.
