U.S. tariffs to hit European firms' supply chains in China

The latest round of sweeping tariffs from the United States will impact many European companies' supply chain operations in China and other parts of the world, said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

Facing significant backlash, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" last week, imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.

The policy includes tariffs as high as 34 percent on imports from China and 20 percent from the European Union.

Amid rising geopolitical and trade tensions, many European Chamber's member companies have reassessed their supply chains, adopting measures such as supplier diversification and localized production in China to mitigate the risks, said Eskelund.

However, the U.S. tariff hike will disrupt many European companies' supply chains in China and globally, while creating significant uncertainty for many others, he added.

The European Chamber to date has more than 1,700 members such as Volkswagen, Maersk, BNP Paribas, Siemens and Nokia across China.