GE Appliances' Chinese Owner Prepares For a Hit From Tariffs

One of China’s largest appliance makers is preparing for the impact of U.S. trade tariffs as it seeks to expand its international footprint. About 5 percent of products sold in the U.S. by GE Appliances -- a unit of Qingdao Haier Co. -- are imported from China and face tariffs now or will get hit by those being proposed by the Trump administration, Li Pan, vice president of the home appliance group, said in an interview. Top executives at GE Appliances, the American white goods unit that Haier acquired in 2016, are in discussions with the U.S. government as part of a group representing appliance makers to remove affected products from the tariff list, he said.