The Canton Fair under the China US Trade War: Challenges and Opportunities Coexist

Against the backdrop of the constantly evolving global economic landscape, the China US trade war has become a focal event in the field of international trade, with profound impacts on the world economy and trade order. As an important window and platform for China's foreign trade, the Canton Fair plays a special role in this trade dispute, facing unprecedented challenges while also nurturing new opportunities.

Since the Trump administration came back to power in 2025, wielding the stick of tariffs and provoking trade disputes, the China US trade war has become increasingly intense. The United States has imposed high tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the United States, and China has also taken decisive countermeasures. This series of tariff measures not only caused changes in the scale and structure of bilateral trade between China and the United States, but also had an impact on the global industrial and supply chains, triggering turbulence in the global financial market. In this context, the importance of the Canton Fair has become increasingly prominent. It is not only a stage for China to showcase its economic strength and determination to open up, but also an important platform for global traders to seek cooperation and cope with trade uncertainty.

Under the shadow of the trade war, the Canton Fair still maintains its strong appeal. Taking the 137th Canton Fair as an example, despite facing many uncertainties brought about by the US tariffs, the scale of the exhibition has not shrunk, with a total exhibition area of 1.55 million square meters, a total of 74000 booths, and about 31000 participating companies. Despite the imposition of tariffs by the United States, the number of overseas buyers on the first day of the Canton Fair reached 64530, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%. Companies from 220 countries and regions participated, indicating that the global business community still has confidence in China's supply chain. This fully demonstrates that despite the complex and severe trade environment, the Canton Fair, as one of the largest comprehensive trade exhibitions in the world, still holds an irreplaceable position in the global trade field.

However, the challenges brought by the trade war to participating companies cannot be ignored.Some companies have reported that the uncertainty in the US market has increased, and customers have become more cautious when placing orders. Some American buyers are trying to lower prices or shifting from preparing payments to observing, which has put some pressure on their export business. For example, at the exhibition, some companies held over 80% of their overseas market share in the US market. With the high tariffs imposed by the US this time, the development of these companies is facing unprecedented difficulties. In order to address these challenges, participating companies are also actively adjusting their strategies. On the one hand, increasing research and development investment to enhance the added value and competitiveness of products, in order to offset the cost pressure caused by tariff increases. For example, well-known home appliance companies such as Gree, Galanz, Wanhe Electric, and Skyworth showcased green, intelligent, and high-end products at the Canton Fair, highlighting China's new manufacturing strength through innovation. On the other hand, actively exploring emerging markets and reducing dependence on the US single market. More and more enterprises are looking to ASEAN, countries along the "the Belt and Road" and RCEP member countries and other markets to establish contacts and expand business with purchasers from these regions by participating in the Canton Fair.

From a more macro perspective, the trade war between China and the United States has also brought new development opportunities for the Canton Fair.It accelerates the pace of transformation and upgrading of the Canton Fair, promoting the exhibition to develop towards higher quality and more innovative direction. At the 137th Canton Fair, a service robot zone was established for the first time, attracting 46 industry representative companies to participate, bringing various types of products including embodied robots, commercial service robots, educational and entertainment robots, etc. More than 1100 companies participated in the intelligent exhibition area and special zone, showcasing 320000 intelligent products on site. In addition, the Canton Fair is constantly innovating its exhibition formats, using the model of "online matching and offline transactions" to make the Canton Fair "never-ending". The mobile app of the Canton Fair aims to create a "mobile Canton Fair" that enables both parties to connect 24/7. These innovative measures not only adapt to the new trends of global trade development, but also provide more opportunities for exhibitors to showcase and exchange ideas.

The Canton Fair also witnessed China's determination to uphold open cooperation in the trade war.Against the backdrop of rising global trade protectionism, China continues to hold high the banner of free trade, further opening up its domestic market to the world at a high level through platforms such as the Canton Fair, and jointly maintaining the stability of the global industrial and supply chains. This has not only won more international cooperation opportunities for Chinese enterprises, but also contributed to the stability and development of the global economy.

The Canton Fair under the China US trade war is a microcosm of China's foreign trade development.It faces both challenges brought by trade frictions and opportunities for transformation, upgrading, and market expansion. For exhibiting companies, they should actively respond to challenges, seize opportunities, continuously improve their competitiveness, and showcase the charm of Chinese enterprises on the global trade stage. The Canton Fair will continue to play its unique role in building a bridge for the development of China and world trade, promoting global trade towards a more open, inclusive, balanced, and win-win direction.