Home appliance manufacturers in Zhongshan, south China's Guangdong Province are finding ways to adapt to tariff policies of the United States without lowering their prices.
Last year, home appliances were China's fourth-largest export to the United States, but the trade flow is now under growing strain amid U.S. tariff hikes. Despite the temporary reduction announced by Beijing and Washington, the full set of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods remains steep.
Zhongshan is a major manufacturing hub for home appliances. For years, much of its goods headed straight to American homes. But a fresh wave of U.S. tariffs in April brought shipments to a standstill.
"We have five big buyers. One of them stocked here about 30 containers, I think, totally is about five million U.S. dollars," said Ricky Liang, vice president and sales director of Guanglong Gas and Electrical Appliances.
Liang's products now face up to 55 percent in tariffs -- a mix of Trump's first term policies, new levies linked to fentanyl, and blanket tariffs on most countries.
"They [clients] even feel anxious because they know I will not lower the price, and they know the tariff will be shouldered by themselves," said Liang.
Liang's clients include Walmart, the world's largest retailer, whose CEO recently warned price hikes are hard to avoid "given the reality of narrow retail margins".
To cushion the blow from tariffs, Liang's factory -- like many others -- is moving some production overseas.
"In China, we are in charge of the developing, the tooling. And then we also make some key components from China. In Vietnam, we do some simple assembly and also some production there. We also need to find more buyers, for example, these items are also for Europe," said Liang.
Dongfeng Town, located in northern Zhongshan City, is home to over 8,500 companies in the home appliance supply chain.
The town government has set up a new cross-border e-commerce association to help manufacturers handle small, direct-to-consumer orders and offset the impact of tariffs on their large container shipments. Local businessman Huang Long owns a company manufacturing luxury cabinets for wine and cigars, and half of his exports go to the United States.
To cope with the tariff policies, Huang, also executive vice president of the Zhongshan Dongfeng Cross-Border E-Commerce Association, said his company is seeking more opportunities in China's domestic market, and local manufacturers are making joint efforts to explore overseas markets.
"Our products are non-essential. When prices rise, consumers tend to cut back, so tariffs hit us harder. We've been in domestic e-commerce since 2011. The local market is still huge. Now, the town is pooling our supply chain resources together to build a brand for overseas markets," said Huang.
In Natou Town, another company is taking a different path - gaining more market share with high-tech manufacturing.
"Today, advances in AI, automation and robotics have made China's manufacturing efficiency world-class. For large-scale production, that means lower costs. Our high-end products now rival, or even surpass brands from Japan, Korea, Europe, and the U.S. in both tech and design. With that edge, we are steadily gaining ground in global markets," said Michael Yao, CEO of Homa Appliances.
Manufacturers hope that more duties will be lifted after the 90-day "cooling period". In the meantime, they are preparing for a long fight by building factories overseas, exploring new markets, and doubling down on innovation.
The pressure is real, but so is their determination to keep moving forward, and to keep winning.
Chinese home appliances exporters adapt to US tariffs without lowering prices
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
