Chinese factories are moving assembly lines abroad to skirt higher customs taxes on their exports to the United States and elsewhere.
They are shifting production to countries such as Vietnam, Serbia and Mexico. This is true particularly of China's bike industry.

Supply chains have already begun relocating out of China in recent years as its rising labor and environmental protection costs have made the country less attractive.

Tariffs are adding fuel to the fire.

China-US trade frictions are accelerating the trend of the global value chain changing shape. The shifting abroad of labor-intensive assembly could bring unemployment problems.

Moves abroad spurred on by tariff risks include a garment maker going to Myanmar, a mattress company opening a plant in Thailand and an electronic motor producer acquiring a Mexico-based factory.

Building a factory abroad allows indirect growth by evading international trade barriers. A country like Vietnam has no anti-dumping tax and labor costs are lower there as well.

It is not only Chinese factories that are shifting out. Foreign firms are moving supply chains away from China - toy company Hasbro, camera maker Olympus, shoe brands Deckers and Steve Madden, among many others.

China's growing e-bike industry faces duties not only from the US but also the European Union.