Jacob Rothman has been making kitchenware in China when U.S. retailers, including Walmart, sold for more than two decades, was "shocked and elated" when Washington and Beijing were "armed in the tariff war.
But Velong Enterprises co-founder said the deal in the U.S. agreed to reduce additional tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30% on 90 days, offering more than just temporary probation.
"This is exactly the percentage that makes my product viable," Rothman said to the tariff levels of Chinese imports. "We have gained more breathing space...beyond that, it's uncertain."
China-based exporters announced a rollback on Monday and relaxed. Wang Xin, head of the Shenzhen Cross-border E-commerce Association, said that goods to the United States are expected to increase significantly in the coming weeks, which represents more than 2,000 Chinese merchants.
Last weekend, two days of negotiations were held by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier in Geneva and the Chinese Deputy Prime Minister last weekend, a truce avoided a difficult decoupling between the world's two largest economies.
But the uncertainty created by the trade war still exists, which means many are still stepping up their efforts to diversify production outside of China and seek new markets, exporters said. "The deal is just a way for both parties to try to re-tune the time," said Heron Lim, an economist at Moody's Analytics.
The two sides have 90 days to develop a more permanent agreement. According to analysts, Donald Trump's unstable tariff policies undermine business confidence in U.S. economic policymaking. Exporters also pointed out that the lowered tariffs were significantly higher than before Trump took office in January.
After Trump's "Liberation Day" imposed tariffs on "Liberation Day" on April 2, the month-long freezing of goods disrupted the normal trading model and is now starting to thaw.
Zhu, manager of Freight Agent Greenroad International Logistics, said the demand for Chinese transportation "will basically explode in the short term" and he only asked to identify it with one name.
A Shenzhen-based freight forwarder declined to be named, saying she hopes many customers will stock up before Thanksgiving and Christmas. “At present, transportation companies have not raised prices yet, but the trend should rise,” she added.
Ken Huo, director of the Fushan Foreign Trade Association, said some exporters are shipping as soon as possible to ensure they arrive within a 90-day time frame. He said that if negotiations break down, goods could again be subject to high tariffs.
He said a trader received direct instructions from his boss after Geneva joint announcement “immediately shipped all the goods in stock to the United States”. He added that this means that China’s ports have become crowded.
But, among many exporters, there is a sense of caution.
Wang Xiaosha, general manager of Fujian Jie Ao Industrial, produces decorative prints and paintings for overseas markets. He said the company "dare not" to accept U.S. orders until a more permanent deal was reached.
Many of its products are seasonal, with U.S. customers usually selecting products at the Guangzhou Expo, which ends this month before the tariffs are suspended. This means many customers are not placing orders, she said.
Jiangsu-based Xstrap product manager Ren Chaoqun manufactures car roof straps and accessories for U.S. customers including Walmart, saying the agreement will help alleviate items that have not been shipped yet.
But “tariffs remain a huge challenge”, he added. "A little (relieving). But the situation is still very serious."
Wang Yi, who is a super popular logistics business based in Shenzhen, said orders in the U.S. fell by about 50% in April.
“There’s a big impact from April to[early],” he said. “They only say it on the weekends… so it’s slowly recovering.”
Velong's Rothman said the long-term outlook is more complex. The Tit-for-Tat trade war has undermined the shipping schedules for many customers, and uncertainty still exceeds the final form of any trade agreement.
He added that the truce would slow the transition of its production to plants in other countries. "This means that production migration from China to our facilities in Cambodia and India may be like this - immigration, not evacuation," Rossman said.
“We now have about four to five months to ship products for the next season,” he said. “If negotiations continue, that could mean that our four factories in China and our 20-year investment can be retained.”