How Ivanka Trump's fashion line was exempted from her father's war on Chinese goods

Donald Trump's trade war has begun, and US companies are scrambling to adjust to his tariffs on Chinese-made goods. Items produced by his daughter Ivanka's company - that are made in China - have been excluded. Photo / AP

Donald Trump's trade war has begun, and many US companies are scrambling to adjust to his new tariffs on Chinese-made goods.

But one person whose business will not be affected is his daughter Ivanka Trump.

Clothing and shoes were spared from the firing line, rendering the President's eldest daughter immune to the sweeping transition.

Her fashion line distributes women's clothes, shoes, handbags and jewellery that are currently or previously were produced in a number of Asian countries including China.

The company's Chinese manufacturers, including Chengdu Kameido Shoes in Sichuan and Hangzhou HS Fashion, will continue to produce Ivanka Trump products without facing any impact by the tariffs, the Huffington Post reported.

In a press release, the Office of the United States Trade Representative explained that the goods affected were chosen based on what would impact the US economy and American customers the least.

"Trade analysts from several US Government agencies identified products that benefit from Chinese industrial policies, including Made in China 2025," the release said.

"The list was refined by removing specific products identified by analysts as likely to cause disruptions to the US economy, and tariff lines that are subject to legal or administrative constraints.

"The remaining products were ranked according to the likely impact on US consumers, based on available trade data involving alternative country sources for each product. The proposed list was then compiled by selecting products from the ranked list with lowest consumer impact."

In other words, banning the categories Ivanka's goods fell into would have a greater impact on American shoppers than those that Trump has threatened, which includes fish, electronics, produce and beauty goods.

But it does appear to contradict Trump's "buy American and hire American" stance, given his daughter has manufactured 100 per cent of her fashion products in China and Hong Kong, according to the Huffington Post.

After months of back-and-forth threats between the two powers, steep US tariffs on tens of billions in Chinese goods came into effect last week.

The US will tax 818 Chinese products — worth a total of US$34 billion ($50.1b) per year.

The remaining products will remain off the list until after the government has assessed the situation.

China is not happy about this, and Beijing retaliated with the same value: 25 per cent tariffs on US products worth US$34b per year, including soybeans, seafood and crude oil.

More recently, the rising superpower vowed to retaliate with a further US$200b on US goods, after the US threatened to expand tariffs to thousands of Chinese imports like fish sticks, apples and French doors.

If it escalates further, the US-China trade war is expected to have global consequences on businesses across Asia, the US and Europe.