Protests broke out across China late last month following the shutdown of several factories in response to President Donald Trump’s newly imposed 145% tariff on Chinese goods.

According to Radio Free Asia, factory workers in Suining, a city in eastern Sichuan province, took to the streets demanding back pay, claiming they had not received wages since the start of the year. In Hunan province, hundreds of employees at Guangxin Sports Goods also went on strike after the factory abruptly closed.

Reports indicate the company failed to pay workers their wages or Social Security benefits before shutting down operations. Meanwhile, in Inner Mongolia, construction workers threatened to jump from a building if their long-overdue wages were not paid, highlighting the growing unrest triggered by the economic fallout, the Daily Wire reported.

Chinese manufacturing is facing challenges as the government’s response to Trump’s tariffs takes effect. According to the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, new export orders have fallen to their lowest level since the COVID pandemic, and manufacturing jobs have reached their lowest point since February 2024, as reported by The New York Times.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the concerning decline was due to “sharp changes in the external environment,” adding that there are “no winners in trade wars,” according to the Financial Times.

Goldman Sachs estimates that approximately 16 million jobs in various Chinese industries are at risk due to Trump’s tariffs, according to a report by the New York Post. 

Last week, China discreetly took steps to mitigate the impact of these tariffs on its economy by exempting about $40 billion worth of U.S. imports from its 125% retaliatory tariff on American goods.

Despite Trump and his administration officials claiming to engage with the Chinese government privately, no formal trade talks have taken place between the two countries. The president told NBC’s “Meet the Press” over the weekend that he would “lower” the tariff on China “at some point,” adding that “they want to do business very much.”