A common Donald Trump refrain during the US presidential election is, “China has rebuilt itself with the money it’s sucked out of the United States.”
Thanks to Trump, some Chinese manufacturers are making even more money from US citizens this election.
One Chinese factory is mass-producing Trump masks, betting the Republican candidate will eventually win the presidency in December. Chinese manufacturers are making souvenirs of the US presidential candidates, from T-shirts to badges to hats, and selling them on Alibaba’s overseas shopping sites, state newspaper China Daily reported on Tuesday (May 31). These goods include toilet paper with candidates’ faces on them—and Trump’s face far outsells Clinton’s.
Qingdao Wellpaper Industrial Co., based in north China’s Shandong province, told China Daily that sales of its Trump toilet paper have been rising since mid-February. So far the company has taken 50 orders—some for up to 5,000 rolls—for Trump toilet paper. In comparison, the Clinton toilet paper has attracted only eight orders.
Qingdao Wellpaper is not the only Chinese company cashing in on people’s feelings toward Trump, Alibaba.com shows. A search for “Donald Trump toilet paper” on the site reveals dozens of products, while a similar search for Clinton turns up only 16. (There appears to be no Bernie Sanders toilet paper for sale at all.)
The Trump toilet paper is also a winner when it comes to choice of artistic expression: You can choose from smiling Trump, pouting Trump, or angry Trump pointing his finger.
These rolls sell wholesale for around $0.5 per roll, and appear to be purchased mostly by buyers from the US—who may be doing a savvy bit of sucking money out of their fellow citizens’ pockets, as well. Similar toilet paper rolls retail on eBay at around $10 a roll, though some eBay sellers claim theirs are made in the US.
Apparently, many US citizens enjoy wiping themselves with Trump’s face. Prominent among them is US women’s national soccer team star Sydney Leroux. In May, Leroux posted her husband’s latest toilet paper purchase on Instagram: