Trump says children have too many dolls – but China exports more than toys

President Donald Trump suggested that children could do with fewer toys, and there are probably many Americans who agree with him.

But toys are far from the only thing the United States bought from China.

From electronics that keeps your household walking towards medical equipment used in rescue situations, these goods probably came from China.

Trump imposed a wide 145% rate on China, while certain Chinese products have been affected with even higher rate rates. During a meeting from the Cabinet to the White House on Wednesday, asked about commercial relations with China, Trump has shown concern that certain shelves would be empty after the prices.

“Maybe children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls would cost a few dollars more than they would normally,” said Trump.

The United States imports around 80% of all its toys of China, according to data from the Toy Association. However, most Chinese goods would probably fall into the category of necessities, while others are an integral part of American life which cannot be easily replaced by American manufacturing alternatives.

“Many products subject to prices have never been manufactured in the United States, so we do not know how to do them,” said Bi Willy C. Shih, professor of business administration in the Harvard Business School.

For example, he said: “Liquid crystal panel screens are made in Asia, mainly in China. We do not make them in the United States and we have never made them here, so it is not even a question of bringing these manufacturing.”

Shih said that the move of supply chains and the establishment of new factories are taking big investments in equipment and training, which is generally paying in the years if the operation is traveling in a country at a lower cost. The United States, he says, is not a country at a lower cost.

Here is a ventilation of some of the most essential goods that the United States comes from China.

Your family life would not look like China

From the first thing you touch in the morning at the last thing you see before calling it one night, your daily routine would not look alike without the presence of Chinese goods.

If you like smoothies in the morning, whether you have a personal care routine or plan to play Super Mario Bros. With your best friends next Friday evening, there is a good chance that you have domestic electronics made in China.

The trade statistics from the US trade ministry show that more than 97% of the alarm clocks and wall clocks imported in the United States came from China in 2024, as well as 77% of video game consoles, 84% of household food mixers and 93% of electric toothbrushes.

In addition, 76% of American smartphones imports, 78% of imports from American laptops and 70% of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in electronics and electric vehicles also came from China, according to data from the United Nations Comtrade compiled by the Atlantic council.

Although the Trump administration in mid-April has announced that some electronics, including smartphones and computers, would be exempt from prices, not all, and these exemptions could be deleted at any time.

Hospitals are counting on medical equipment from China

According to data from the US trade department, 94% of first aid kits and boxes imported in the United States came from China, as well as 40% of rubber medical gloves and 54% of all medical adhesive dressings.

When the Biden administration announced a plan to increase prices on numerous manufacturing articles in China in May 2024, the American Hospital Association published a information sheet showing that any wide price on China would have an impact on the prices of basic medical equipment such as syringes, medical masks, respirators and gloves.

While medical tenders represent only 10.5% of the budget of an average hospital, they collectively represented $ 146.9 billion in 2023, an increase of $ 6.6 billion compared to 2022.

Biden administration ended up extending the exemptions to a wide range of health products Until May 31, 2025, including single -use sterile curtains, laparotomy sponges and anesthesia instruments.

When they were asked if these exemptions are still under Trump's decrees which had not specified exemptions, customs and protection of American borders declared to Bi in a March press release that they were “determined to support the executive decrees of the Trump administration linked to the prices while respecting American commercial laws” and that the “dynamic nature” of their mission “requires that the CBP is adapts quickly “.

The White House did not respond to a request for comments.

“Higher prices for high volume medical supplies, such as personal protective equipment and syringes, are likely to exacerbate and extend the financial opposites that hospitals are already confronted today,” the AHA said in a statement in 2024.

Children get much more than simple China toys

Although children need dolls, their care requires more than just entertainment.

Michael Wieder, co -founder of the Baby Product brand Lalo, which sells everything, from the safety utensils for baby chairs, previously told Business Insider that the brand's main supply chain is in China, and it would have very little capacity to move it elsewhere because the products for children are highly regulated for safety.

“We have been working with factories that have been in the business for decades, manufacturing children's products and ensuring that they are safe,” said Wieder. “All the factories we work with have all the safety equipment, all tests, all engineering talents to make sure that we manufacture the safest and safest products – we cannot replace so easily.”

According to commercial data from the US Department of American Commerce.

China produces more than a simple fast mode

While cheap clothes and Shein and Temu fashion accessories have been widely criticized for their poor quality, how fast they find themselves in dresses and dubious work practices, brands of American, large and small clothing, told Bi that they suffered from the impacts of tariffs on China.

According to the National Bridal Retailers Association, up to 90% of American nuptial dresses are manufactured in China.

With complex details such as lace, boning and thousands of hand-selected pearls, the average wedding dress is already $ 2,000 depending on the wedding planning platform, and could more than double under the prices.

“The primordial feeling is despair,” said Angie Oven, owner of a wedding shop and president of the NBRA, in Bi after a meeting she held with 75 members of the group.

Haley Pavone, founder and CEO of Passionwaar Passionwear, who produces shoes with fully convertible high heels, told Bi that it would be impossible for her to move her supply chain outside China because of the specialized manufacturing needs of her brand and limited resources as a small business.

“Our options are to continue to pay this price, which is not reasonable,” said Pavone, “and there is therefore no way not to transmit this price on the consumer, and then we just have to hope that they are ready to pay it.”