Following former President Donald Trump's assasination attempt during campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Chinese online retailers see an opportunity to to launch souvenir T-shirts on Taobao, one of the country's largest e-commerce platforms.
In a report by SCMP, just within hours of Trump narrowly escaping an assassination attempt, Taobao was already flooded with orders for T-shirts featuring an image of a defiant Trump, demonstrating the platform's rapid response capabilities.
While US President Joe Biden's initial public statement on the shooting didn't come until 8 pm, Chinese manufacturers were already prepared to produce and sell these commemorative items. By 8:40 PM, the first batch of these T-shirts was available for purchase on Taobao, even before many governments around the world had formulated their responses.
25-year-old Taobao seller, Li Jinwei stated that her team immediately listed T-shirts on Taobao upon hearing the news, even before printing had begun. Within three hours, they received over 2,000 orders from customers in China and the U.S. Her factory in Hebei province swiftly produced these shirts using digital printing technology.
The demand surge for election-themed merchandise isn't new, as Allen Yao, co-founder of Xinflying Digital Printing Production in Guangdong, emphasized the strong market interest in such items, particularly in the US.
Beyond immediate retail reactions, Chinese exporters are also strategizing for potential impacts on international trade dynamics. Concerns over future tariff increases under a Trump administration resurgence have prompted some exporters to front-load shipments to the US.
In the US, VCPost reported that the market has a strongly positive reaction to Trump's shooting accident, with US dollars strengthening and stocks surging on a record rate. Analysts are now predicting that it will be massive challenge for President Biden to further convince investors on his side.
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