China suppliers warn of higher U.S. prices due to Hormuz closure

Pickleball paddle producer Devi Wei has a message for U.S. shoppers. “Americans will have to pay more,” the Chinese businessman told CNBC at a Beijing trade show last week at the China International Exhibition Center. Because of the recent swings in oil prices resulting from the Iran war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Wei, who founded his own exporting business, Huijin Trade, has had to hike prices on his paddles and pickleballs by as much as 20%, he said. Wei’s goods are made with polypropylene, a plastic material derived from oil and made in the Middle East, a…