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Hundreds of company and industry representatives descended on Washington this month to testify about proposed escalations in the US-China trade war, which President Donald Trump has said could take effect soon after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the week.

Speaking before US trade officials during the first two days of hearings, many retail companies warned that plans to target another $US300 billion worth of imports from China would lead to higher costs for Americans and threaten US jobs.

The hearings were set to last seven days, with witnesses allowed to speak for five minutes each. Here’s what they told the Trump administration, according to US Trade Representative transcripts.

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As production moves from China to other countries, compliance with existing regulation and standards is a serious concern. In some cases, American employees work in their partially-owned Chinese factories performing quality control supervision to ensure compliance.

This effort did not happen overnight. -Brent Cleaveland, Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Trade Assoc.

As we enter the third and fourth quarter, the period all retailers achieve profitability, they will see lack of customer enthusiasm for higher prices. Many retailers are already closing stores and price increases will surely hasten their demise. -Jean Kolloff, Quinn Apparel Inc. + Qi Cashmere

We make largely price sensitive, impulse purchase items. So further cost increases cause great harms. This concerns us greatly as a significant number of our members consist of start-up businesses and companies that have been in operation for less than five years. -Karen Giberson, Accessories Council

This scenario would be catastrophic for our company. -Jeff Fischer, Planet Gold Clothing Company Inc.

Because footwear is consumer-stable, and because China dominates the production of these items, every American will feel the adverse effects of these tariffs, which will simply be an additional tax on American consumers. -Marc Schneider, Kenneth Cole Productions Inc.

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The cost of producing elsewhere in the world may be too costly too, as we are barely profitable now. That means that we either continue sourcing in China, and increase our prices, which will likely mean decreased sales, or we may try to move out which will take more than a year.-Mark Corrado, Leading Lady Inc.

I can say without hesitation that by raising or imposing these new tariffs, 25% tariffs, there will be disproportionate harm to our company, as well as to the consumers who have need of purchasing them. -Mark Flannery, Regalo International LLC

This increased cost will have to be passed onto consumers, due to traditionally low profit margins and their price sensitivity, making these lifesaving products unaffordable to much of the country’s population.-Bradley Mattarocci, Baby Trend, Incorporated

Imposing tariffs to punish the originating country also damages US supply chains and puts these American jobs at risk. While we recognise the issues with China’s IP forged technology transfer practices, we ask ourselves if the cost of tariffs to US companies and consumers causes more harm than the problem they are trying to solve.-Patrick Fox, VF Corporation

These additional duties and costs will result in higher price points in the long term and reduce demand and lower sales of their leather products.-Karen Gilberson, Patricia Nash Designs

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I just want to make the observation that the threat of a tariff is the same as implementing of a tariff, due to the long lead time it takes for our supply chain to adjust. -Michael Jeppesen, Wolverine Worldwide

The proposed duties will not just disrupt our Chinese sourcing of these products, it will directly and negatively impact our employees. -Jonathan Viner, KIK Custom Products

Prices will go up; sales will go down; jobs will be lost. -Rick Helfenbein, American Apparel & Footwear Association

Based on our preliminary analysis of a 25 per cent punitive tariff, we project millions in additional costs for our five New England factories.-Monica Gorman, New Balance Athletics

We think this is going to hurt the very people that the President, we think, has committed to when he stated, ‘We want to make America great again.’ We think that is something that needs to be thought through.-Sean Georges, Shoe Carnival Inc.

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If the tariff is imposed, as buyers on the international market, American museums will pay a higher price to acquire and bring home to America works of art of Chinese origin. -Stephen Knerly, Association of Art Museum Directors

We understand the position of the President regarding the current trade relations with China, and we support realigning the trade agreements to correct the unfair trade practices. However, we are deeply concerned about the impacts of these tariffs on all the manufacturers who attempt to provide the equipment for what the American public calls its favourite pastime, fishing. -Glenn Hughes, American Sportfishing Association

If you remember nothing else I have said, US workers and US consumers will be hurt and foreign companies will be helped. -Harlan Kent, Pure Fishing Inc.

As a result of these tariffs, we will reduce capital investments in the US, reduce new product development, reduce hiring, and potentially go out of business. -Tim MacGuidwin, The Catch Company

We agree, the administration should address China’s discriminatory practice towards intellectual property rights, however we do not believe that imposing punitive tariffs on consumer hunting products will convince China to change its behaviour. -Mike Powell, Primos Hunting

Please don’t put American jobs at risk by including codes that will not accomplish the goals of the increased tariffs. -Robert Beckwith, Velocity Outdoor, Inc.

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We believe the imposition of these proposed tariffs puts recreational fishing at risk of being taxed into a sport for only the wealthy. -Jeffrey Moore, W.C. Bradley and Zebco Holdings

Any tariff on printed books, regardless of genre or title, would be a tax on every reader, whether they are community members who buy books in our store or whether they are school districts seeking to provide titles for students. -Jamie Fiocco, American Booksellers Association

These disruptions would have immediate and negative consequences for the children’s book market. The bottom line is if tariffs are imposed, there will be fewer books available to American kids. -Daniel Reynolds, Workman Publishing

If printed books including bibles are not removed from the fourth list of products from China to be subject to tariffs, when tariffs go into effect, consumers and religious organisations will face higher prices.-Mark Schoenwald, HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Tariffs may be intended to encourage consumption of non-Chinese products, but they make our customers no more able to afford them. -Craig Andereson, Publishers Clearing House

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The tariffs would upend decades of long-hailed U.S. policy of not imposing barriers to the importation of educational, scientific, and cultural material, given the importance of books to the existence or exercise of both religion and free speech. -M. Luisa Simpson, Association of American Publishers

There will be significant damage to bible accessibility if bibles and books are not excluded. Some publishers believe such a tariff would place a practical limitation on religious freedom. -Stan Jantz, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association

In the long term, any efforts to move supply chains threaten to impede continual service and may negatively impact safety, all while the increased costs associated with sourcing products from new suppliers fall on the shoulders of US businesses and customers. -Tom Vining, National Elevator Industry Inc.

We’re putting hiring plans on hold, as we look at our balance sheets and try to move, you know, numbers from one account to another, to make sure that we can keep folks employed, we can continue to pay rent. That’s what this means for us. -Jeff Peck, S’Well Bottle

The overall sales for Camp Chef have declined because of the 301 tariffs already in place. For example, the 10 per cent tariff on List 3 products has increased our duty disbursement 165 per cent. This increase has led to a $US20 retail price increase on one of our stoves. Prior to the tariffs, this stove was one of our best sellers. Now it barely moves off the shelf. -Brandon Sparrow, Camp Chef

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