Probably everyone has heard about Donald Trumps new tariffs against steel and now a whole range of goods worth $60 Billion against China. This is a trade conflict which has been brewing for some time now. Indeed Donald Trump was very vocal about his intention to fight China in trade and their perceived protection of their own industries. Now he has spoken with a whole range of tariffs and indeed China has reciprocated with its own. Donald Trump’s trade war will have consequences.

Donald Trump’s Trade War

Whilst the tariffs are only on Chinese goods entering the United States of America they are going to have a profound effect of global trade and pricing. China is a large purchaser of commodities from a range of countries including Australia. Any disruption to the supply chain can have a domino effect. So for example if China no longer needs as many such commodities then it may exert downward pressure on their prices. Similarly a cut in their own production might push prices higher for others.

The effect on jigsaw mats

How this will effect jigsaw mats remains to be seen. Jigsaw mats are manufactured from EVA which is a petroleum by-product. Therefore any movement in petroleum based products can have an effect on pricing. But on the other hand if Chinese access becomes to the US market becomes limited there may be excess supply of jigsaw puzzle mats which could push prices lower for the rest of the world. So as you can see the effect that Donald Trump’s new protectionist policies have on global jigsaw mat pricing is varied.

The same can be said about all types of gym mats. With the exception of some mats, like Zebra Mats which are manufactured in Germany, and other specialist mats, most gym mats are manufactured in China these days. Indeed most low cost products are manufactured in China or other countries in Asian. So if there is a disruption to the markets then one would expect an effect on the pricing of such products. What effect they will have we will have to wait and see.