“It’ll be very hard for anyone to survive in the U.S. market […] So for all of us in the cross-border e-commerce business today, this is truly an unprecedented blow.” she added. The cross-border e-commerce sector in Shenzhen produced $35.3 billion worth of sales during the previous year. Shein and Temu receive their manufacturing support from China, said Reuters. But the steep U.S. tariffs are now threatening that model. “For us and anyone else, you can’t rely on the U.S. market, that’s quite clear,” said Dave Fong, who sells products like school bags and Bluetooth speakers, as reported by Reuters. He said he already increased prices by up to 30% in the U.S. and is cutting back on ads and inventory. “We have to reduce investment, and put more resources into regions like Europe, Canada, Mexico and the rest of the world,” he added, as reported by Reuters. “I don’t see a scenario, if things don’t change, that serving the U.S. from China is viable any more and manufacturing that serves the U.S. will have to be transferred to other countries like Vietnam, or Mexico,” Miller said, as reported by Reuters.
