Hong Kong aluminium firm fights for US clients to avoid being crushed by trade war

Kam Pin Industrial stayed put over a decade ago, when other Hong Kong manufacturers responded to China’s industrial upgrade, sensed rising US-China trade tensions and diversified their operations overseas. Now President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs on US trading partners threaten to hit hard. In the last of a three-part series, the Post finds out what the company, a leader in aluminium curtain walls for building exteriors, is considering as it navigates the new disarray in world trade. Read part one here and two here.

Hong Kong entrepreneur Danny Lau Tat-pong has sometimes wondered if his family-owned business missed out on expanding beyond mainland China.

Kam Pin Industrial stood still while other manufacturers in the city moved some operations overseas more than a decade ago, sniffing trouble from growing US-China trade tensions and Beijing’s sweeping industrial upgrade.

Relying solely on its production base in Dongguan, in neighbouring Guangdong province, the company thrived, gaining an international reputation for its top-quality aluminium curtain walls.

The lightweight material was much in demand as cladding for buildings, from airport terminals to skyscrapers, because it was robust and allowed for versatile designs.

Kam Pin’s innovations with colours and the materials used as coatings multiplied the uses, attracting customers from many countries, including the United States and Japan.

In Hong Kong, its products feature prominently on the Palace Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District, the purple facade of the 11 Skies shopping complex at Hong Kong International Airport, and the distinctive silver exterior of the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminus.

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