[Text/Observer Network, Xiong Chaoyan] At Yiwu International Trade City, the largest wholesale center in the world, Canadian retailer Luke Therrien穿梭 among shops full of Christmas decorations, keychains, and small items, searching for suppliers he used to purchase goods from through American intermediaries.

According to a report by South China Morning Post on May 7, in the past, these American intermediaries were responsible for selecting products from hundreds of Chinese factories, repackaging them, and then providing them to North American retailers like Therrien who run their own companies. However, with the intensification of trade tensions, inventory shortages, and increasingly severe U.S. tariff policies, Therrien chose to bypass American intermediaries and seek direct contact with China amid the collapse of the supply chain.

Although this transition increased the duration of on-site inspections and faced logistical obstacles, it may lead Therrien to establish a more sustainable and cost-effective supply chain. "When one door closes, another opens," he said. "This season is going to be tough for us as we prepare for Christmas shopping. But from a pricing perspective, it will clearly benefit us in the long term."

"For anyone in business today, you must budget carefully and find new ways to procure products. This is the reality; we will have to shift more procurement outside the United States and work hard to find more direct participants," Therrien stated.

On February 19, 2025, foreign businessmen were purchasing goods at Yiwu International Trade City in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. Visual China

The report noted that U.S. President Trump insisted on provoking a trade war, redrawing the global supply chain map. Tariffs are no longer just about cost issues; they are fundamentally reshaping the way products are procured, traded, and transported across borders.

On one hand, buyers like Therrien are bypassing American intermediaries to directly connect with Chinese suppliers. On the other hand, Chinese exporters are witnessing increasing chaos within the U.S. market - from customs backlog to unstable tariff enforcement, this pressure is internally dismantling long-established trade channels.

Huang Feng (a pseudonym), who exports more than 70% of his goods to the U.S., said that Trump's unpredictable tariff policies make the current situation increasingly unpredictable. "Some containers are taxed, some are not," he said. "We have been told that we might need to pay the difference later, but no one knows exactly how or when. It’s all chaotic right now."

He added that although he has long focused on the U.S. market, transitioning to other countries is not easy – especially considering the existing business scale and standard requirements. Moreover, exporters still benefit from the dominance of the dollar. However, he said that if the dollar loses its global status, he will not continue doing business with the U.S.

"I don't want to double down on the U.S. market anymore," he said. "The creditworthiness of this country is collapsing. To be honest, I have little confidence in it and don't really like it."

South China Morning Post pointed out that the dollar remains the dominant trade currency globally. For exporters, settling in dollars often means a more predictable payment method and more favorable exchange rates, even though risks are increasing. This is still the key reason why many exporters continue to take risks and hold onto the U.S. market.

However, recently, the risk of international trade wars has intensified, and the economic turmoil caused by Trump's tariff policies has become more severe. In just a few weeks, U.S. policy chaos has severely undermined decades of trust in the dollar as the world reserve currency.

"Confidence in U.S. assets has been shaken," Reuters reported on April 11. After China introduced multiple rounds of countermeasures, although the U.S. stock market eventually closed higher, safe-haven assets such as gold hit record highs during trading. Meanwhile, the dollar weakened, and the U.S. Treasury market saw an increase in selling pressure, indicating a lack of confidence in the U.S. market.

At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, known as the "investor's Spring Festival," 94-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett publicly criticized the tariff policies of the Trump administration for the first time. However, another rare statement of his also drew significant attention.

According to reports by CNBC, in response to reducing exposure to the risk of dollar devaluation, Buffett replied: "Obviously, we won't invest in any currency we believe is 'going to hell.' This is our biggest concern about the dollar."

Recently, Trump has frequently made statements regarding Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, hyping up the so-called "negotiations" topic to create momentum for the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations. Fundamentally, this is merely an attempt to cover up the increasingly passive situation in the trade war.

On May 7, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce responded to questions about high-level Sino-U.S. economic and trade talks, stating that since the new U.S. administration took office, it has taken a series of non-compliant, unreasonable unilateral tariff measures, seriously impacting Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations, disrupting the international trade order, and posing a serious challenge to the recovery and growth of the world economy. In order to defend its legitimate rights and interests, China has taken firm and decisive countermeasures. Recently, senior U.S. officials have repeatedly hinted at adjusting tariff measures and actively conveyed information to China via various channels, hoping to talk about tariffs and other issues with China. China has carefully evaluated the information conveyed by the U.S. side. Based on fully considering global expectations, China's interests, calls from the U.S. industry and consumers, China decided to agree to engage in contact with the U.S. side.

The spokesperson emphasized that China's position has always been consistent: whether fighting or negotiating, China's determination to safeguard its development interests will not change, nor will its stance and goals of defending fairness and justice and maintaining the international trade order. Fighting, we will see it through to the end; negotiating, the door is open. Any dialogue or negotiation must be conducted under the premise of mutual respect, equal consultation, and mutual benefit.

This article is an exclusive contribution by Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501537379430335030/

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