Flags for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign are being produced in China, one of the flag manufacturers said in an interview on NPR, despite a looming trade war.
Li Jiang owns a factory that began to make flags after China became part of the World Trade Organization, according to an interview with Li on NPR’s “The Indicator.” The factory made products for both the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Trump campaign in 2016.
“We also make flags for Trump for 2020. It seems like he has another campaign going on in 2020. Isn’t that right?” Li said in the interview, which had been translated through an interpreter, according to a transcript from the show.
Li went on to say that making flags for Trump’s 2020 bid “is completely normal.”
“It is completely normal. And that is trade. We buy stuff from America, and America is buying … stuff from China. For example, my car is from America,” Li said, via the interpreter.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
On Friday, the US and China are expected to hit each other with tariffs on $34 billion of each other’s exports.
The US tariffs on China will target more than 800 items, including industrial machinery, medical devices and auto parts. Beijing plans to reciprocate and is expected to target 545 American products.
The US is also set to go ahead with tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese exports later in the summer, and China has vowed to retaliate against US goods of equal value.
Li said he was not worried about a potential trade war.
“We are not so worried because first of all, we have a big price advantage over our competitors. And our clients are very smart. They would always go to the cheapest place. If China is cheap, they go to China. If America is cheap, they go to America,” he said in the interview.
CNN’s Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.