By NG HAN GUAN

YIWU, China (AP) — The trade war between the world’s two largest economies is escalating as China on Friday slapped a 125% tariff on U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese products.

Caught in the crosshairs are businesses that are part of the more than $582.4 billion trade between the countries, with Chinese exporters making up the bulk of that exchange.

Here’s what some of them had to say. Most of them spoke in the eastern city of Yiwu, known as home to the world’s largest wholesale market:

Jiang Jiayu, owner of Yiwu Jiayu Festive Supplies Co.

American customers would normally be placing their Christmas orders at this time of year, she said, but right now, there is no sign of them. U.S. customers make up about 10% of Jiang’s business. She said she didn’t understand the purpose of Trump’s tariffs.

“Can the U.S. produce what China, or Yiwu is producing now? Ordinary people are the ones who will get hurt the most by the tariffs,” she said. “I don’t think he can continue his behavior for long.”

But she said she would rather pull out of the market completely than pay the hefty U.S. tariffs.

“At worst, we just quit,” she said. “We will not lose money just to keep this market.”

Wu Liying, owner of Xinyue Socks Co.

Wu runs a shop selling socks of all hues, printed with cartoon characters, stripes or Christmas-themed ornaments. She said she is yet to feel the impact from the new levies, but knows it is only a matter of time before overseas trade becomes more complicated.

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“Our clients will have no profit to make, and neither will we,” she said. “We are all in the business to make money, but if nobody makes money, the purpose of win-win cooperation will no longer exist.”

Margaret Zhuang, an employee in a kitchen supplies factory

“The tariffs are so high that it is the same if adding another 200%,” said Margaret Zhuang, an employee who handles foreign sales at a factory for wooden kitchen supplies in Dongyang in southern Guangzhou province.

Zhuang said her American client asked the company to stop manufacturing on Monday, when Trump raised the tariffs to 125%, even after paying a 30% deposit for the order.

Comparing the trade war to Trump’s first presidency in 2018, Zhuang said things are much worse this time around, because China’s economy is in a slump. She’s worried that she and her 40 colleagues will have no income when work stops, and that she could lose her job.

Zhuang used to hope the U.S. and China would negotiate to “give each other a lifeline.”

“But now we all know, the U.S. just want to break it off,” she said.

Ding Dandan, Christmas decorations seller

An exporter of Christmas decorations, Ding Dandan believes U.S. customers will still buy from Yiwu, at least in the short term, because they have nowhere else to go.

“Do you know 90% of Christmas-related goods in the U.S. are from China?” said Ding, who often sells to the U.S. market via intermediaries in third countries such as Mexico.

“If China does not export them, the U.S. will not be able to import such large amount of goods from elsewhere, right?”

Associated Press journalists Wayne Zhang in Yiwu, China, Huizhong Wu in Bangkok and Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this report.

Isaac Howard has never done things quietly. That includes his introduction to much of the hockey world in 2022, when he arrived at the NHL Draft decked out in a flashy white suit and declared himself the best-looking player available just in time for the Tampa Bay Lightning to grab him in the first round.

So, it was a bit of a surprise on Friday at a theater in downtown St. Louis when he reservedly and humbly accepted the Hobey Baker Award given annually to college hockey’s top player.

Originally from Hudson, Wis., the Michigan State junior was named the Big Ten’s most valuable player this season after helping the Spartans capture their second consecutive conference title. He cut his hockey teeth at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault and with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program prior to college hockey.

On stage at the theater adjacent to Enterprise Center, where Western Michigan and Boston University will play for the NCAA title on Saturday night, Howard singled out Spartans head coach Adam Nightingale, who worked with Howard at MSU and with the NTDP before that.

“You taking me into Michigan State was awesome,” Howard said. “You’ve been a great role model for me, my favorite coach, and I can’t (express) how important you’ve been to me. And also to the boys watching, you guys make it an awesome place to play. I absolutely love being a Michigan State Spartan for life.

“It’s an individual award, but it comes from teammates, linemates — it’s a collective group. So, I couldn’t do it alone.”

Howard, 21, played his first college season at Minnesota Duluth before transferring to Michigan State two years ago. He is the first Spartans player to win the trophy since hall of fame goalie Ryan Miller in 2001. As he piled up points and wins this season, the Spartans promoted Howard’s candidacy for the Hobey with t-shirts and other merchandise bearing the slogan “Be Like Ike” and showing one of his flashy on-ice celebrations.

“I’m excited and I’m proud,” Nightingale said. “It’s pretty rare that you get to coach a kid like this for four years. … From a coach’s perspective, seeing a kid that’s that committed and doing what he does on a daily basis, it’s a culmination to a moment like this.”

Howard put up 26 goals and 26 assists in 37 games for the Spartans this season, and recently announced he will return to Michigan State for his senior season.

Runners up for the award were Boston College forward Ryan Leonard and Denver defenseman Zeev Buium. Picked by the Wild 12th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, Buium is expected to sign with Minnesota in the coming days and could join the team for their Monday practice in St. Paul.

The Hobey Baker Award, named after a legendary Princeton hockey player and aviator killed in World War I, was created by the now-defunct Decathlon Athletic Club in Bloomington in 1981 and first awarded to Gophers forward Neal Broten.

Among the other award recipients on Friday at the Frozen Four were:

– Boston College sophomore Jacob Fowler won the Mike Richter Award, given to college hockey’s top goalie.

– Michigan defenseman Jacob Truscott won the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award, which honors a former Army West Point player killed in Afghanistan 20 years ago.

— Retired coach Dick Umilie was named the Hobey Baker Legend of College hockey after leading New Hampshire to the Frozen Four on four occasions and coaching 1999 Hobey winner Jason Krog.

— Syracuse forward Sarah Thompson won the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which honors players’ community service efforts in addition to their on-ice work.

— Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson won the Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award, given to college hockey’s top first-year player.

Howard becomes the third Wisconsin native to win the Hobey in its 45-year history, following Lane MacDonald (Harvard, 1989) and Cole Caufield (Wisconsin, 2021)

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The Twins talked up their rotation depth all spring, feeling confident in options such as David Festa and Zebby Matthews lined up in Triple-A, ready to fill in behind their starting five.

Now, they’re getting a chance to see that depth.

Friday was a day the Twins had targeted for a Festa start with the team mired in the middle of a stretch of 12 games in 12 days. And it seems as if the Twins could get a look at Matthews in the coming days, too. Festa was officially added to the roster on Friday when the Twins placed their ace Pablo López on the injured list with a hamstring strain.

The move allows them to push all of their starters back a day for some extra rest. Simeon Woods Richardson, for example, is coming off a start in which he threw a career-high 107 pitches.

“Early on every season, when we look at the schedule, we will look at possible things that we could do,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “And then the season has to unfold, and you see just where everyone sits, what the pitchers are doing, what their workloads are and things like that.

“It was seemingly a good time to get David in there. You have to line it up. You’ve got to line it up at Triple-A. You’ve got to make sure you have it but we had it ready to go.”

With Festa pitching in Friday’s game against the Tigers, the most likely option for López’s spot would be inserting Matthews in for a start or two. Matthews last pitched Tuesday for the Saints, the same day as López’s start in Kansas City. His turn in the rotation is coming up on Monday.

Matthews looked particularly impressive in spring and at the beginning of the Triple-A season, showing off an increase in his velocity. Like Festa, Matthews made his MLB debut last season after rising quickly through the Twins’ minor league system. He posted a 6.69 earned-run average in nine starts after joining the rotation late last year.

López, who landed on the injured list for the first time as a Twin, is hopeful that his stay on the IL will be kept to a minimum. He was long tossing pregame at Target Field on Friday to keep his arm active.

New threads

The Twins debuted their latest City Connect look on Friday, pairing white pants with yellow and blue piping down the leg. It’s the first time they’ve worn white pants with their lake-themed City Connects. Previously, the Twins have worn blue tops with blue pants, which drew mixed reviews when it was unveiled last year.

Briefly

Byron Buxton returned to the Twins’ lineup on Friday after missing the previous two games. He had left the team briefly because of a personal matter. … Utility man Austin Martin, who departed Thursday’s Triple-A game early, was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain, eliminating a potential depth option for the time being. Martin was off to a strong start to the season, hitting .419 with a .978 OPS.

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A group calling for South St. Paul City Council member Pamela Bakken to step down said it filed paperwork Friday morning asking for her official recall after a child in her care was exposed to methamphetamine.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services suspended the in-home day care license held by Bakken, citing an “imminent risk of harm” to the children in her care after officials began investigating a child who reportedly had swallowed an unknown substance.

South St. Paul City Council member Pam Bakken. (Courtesy of the City of South St. Paul)

On March 4, officials determined Bakken was responsible for the neglect.

“Dakota County determined that you were responsible for maltreatment of a minor by neglect. Specifically, Dakota County determined that you are responsible for neglect because a child in your child care program was exposed to methamphetamine,” the Department of Health said.

Molly Smith, chair of the Committee to Recall Bakken, said the city council should have asked for Bakken’s resignation during the investigation into what happened to the child.

“The facts stand – and they are simple: a 3-year-old boy ingested meth while in Council Member Bakken’s care at her in-home daycare, the State found Pam responsible for the situation, and yet she – and others – have remained silent,” Smith said in a statement announcing the petition. “What’s just as concerning is that Pam Bakken broke the oath she swore when elected – to uphold the laws and regulations of our great State – by willfully disregarding what she was required to do. No person – but especially not elected officials – are above the law.”

The temporary license suspension, issued Dec. 9, follows the recommendation of Dakota County Community Services, which is handling the investigation. It reads: “You are prohibited from providing family child care. You are also prohibited from operating as a legally unlicensed child care provider at this time.”

Bakken, according to her campaign materials, has run an in-home day care for 20 years and raised six children in South St. Paul. She was elected to the council in 2020 and again last November, coming in third in a close race to elect three candidates from a field of four. Her business was licensed for up to 14 children, including up to 10 under school age and up to four infants and toddlers.

South St. Paul City Clerk Deanna Werner confirmed that the paperwork had been certified Friday morning and that the petition was back in the hands of the group.

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The group then has 30 days to gather the required number of signatures, which in this case is based on 25 percent of the last voter turnout, she said. That means by May 12, the group will need to have at least 2,763 signatures that have been verified by the city clerk for the next step, which is to put the recall on a ballot for a special election, she said.

“Special elections cost money – something that will be a burden on the City financially,” Smith said in her announcement. “But, that’s the only avenue for recourse the citizens have been given. I truly wish members of Council would speak up for what’s right and join the community in calling for Bakken’s resignation – and I wish Pam would simply step down.”

The Pioneer Press reached out to Bakken by phone and email and had not received a reply as of Friday evening.