Exporters in China do care and wish to make full use of the window period, but some still worry.
"These days have been extremely busy," a offcial of a clothing company located in Minhang District, Shanghai,.
He told CLS reporter,. the possibility of selling the goods that are still on hold is 100 percent, and new orders are still under communication with customers.
And the Maritime industry is also booming.
"The price of U.S. cargo delivery has gone up, everyone wants to ship to the U.S. within 90 days, but given the long production cycle, it ’ s hard to arrive on schedule." A agent said.
This is a common concern among trading companies in China. Many of them expressed uncertainty about this kind of "pulse order" and warned that whether a 24% tariff rate will be implemented remains unknown and enterprises still have to face the supply chain problem, order risk and other things brought by tariff policies.
The fear of policy uncertainty is driving traders to consider coping strategies from a longer-term perspective.
Price up
Goldman Sachs foresees that China's exports will hot in the next 90 days. GS Analyst Philip Sun pointed out, as businesses operate in this highly uncertain world, American retail giants like Walmart will stock up on Christmas goods as much as possible, even to stockpile for 2026 in advance.
China's e-commerce expert Zhang Zhouping agrees. He told CLS that after the tariff rate reduction, local foreign trading enterprises and cross-border e-commerce enterprises see different degrees of order recovery, many are stocking up for U.S. customers by seizing this three-month window to prepare for the third quarter, the fourth quarter and even next year's goods.
"Lower tariffs in the short term are certainly good for e-commerce, and market confidence has shown signs of short-term recovery."
A representative of Zhejiang China Commodity City Group stressed that U.S. orders have surged over the past two days, driving up shipping prices. The cost for the Sino-U.S.West shipping route has risen from $1,300 – 1,400 per TEU to $1,700 – 1,800 during this period..
He also warned, people all think the trade war may continue, there are a lot of changes, so we have to seize this 90-day window, as soon as possible to store the goods over.
An agent told CLS that price for 20-foot container containers on the U.S. line has now been one price one day since May 12.
Alternatives
Notably, some companies, on the other hand, have maintained stable orders during the tariff fluctuations. Huali Group noted that the current orders are normal, their brand customers bear almost all of the tariffs.
An official from Huali Internation Group also mentioned, if tariffs rise, customers may negotiate prices with manufacturers, but generally manufacturers have limited net profit margins, and the pressure faced by every manufacturers is different. The company has been doing risk prevention preparation and layout in exporting to the United States.
Furthermore, amid repeated fluctuations in tariff policy, some foreign traders bluntly said that they no longer consider the U.S. market.
A trader from textile and leather company said, his company originally intended to develop the U.S. market in April,but the plan has been shelved. Trading with the U.S. is too risky for the company, so they also rejected orders from U.S. customers temporarily.
Instead, some Chinese foreign traders are looking for markets outside the United States . Ecommerce company Temu has announced the launch of the China-Brazil shipping line, mainly transporting furniture, home appliances and other bulky goods since May 15.
Another strategy being explored is "inward circulation", and the head of an underwear foreign trade company told CLS, it has not changed much in the past few days since the tariffs were slashed.
"The previous tariff increase can only be paid by consumers in the end, and our sales in the United States need to increase prices. In addition to the U.S., we have alternative options in other regions, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the Chinese market, and we will consider returning to the domestic market."
