After more than two years of exhaustion due to the war between the US and China, concerns about the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations between the two countries, the majority of US businesses have begun to work. a search for new suppliers outside China.
However, when most of the world was frozen due to a pandemic, and there were few markets that could compete with China in price or quality, experts warned US businesses that Their plan is unlikely to materialize overnight.
Not only that, currently, nearly 50% of companies in the European Union (EU) plan to immediately transfer supplies.
In fact, since July 2018, a number of US companies have been looking for new alternatives to China. However, the survey showed that US businesses’ demand for sourcing outside of China soared when the US-China relationship changed from "bad" to "extremely bad".
“We support our customers, primarily US businesses, to find alternative supplies during the past 2 years. US-China tensions are escalating and the epidemic is accelerating that trend, ”South China Morning Post quoted Simon Archer Perkins, CEO of ET2C International, as saying.
Julien Brun, Director of CEL Consulting in Ho Chi Minh City, said that big companies like Apple, Samsung and Nintendo have stepped up production shift from China to Vietnam. However, this is not easy for small businesses, especially at the present time.
“Many businesses want to move production out of China, but may have difficulty finding suppliers. In addition, infrastructure issues are also bottlenecks, ”Mr. Brun said.
According to Qima’s survey, US businesses are exhausted due to taxes and disruptions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic in China. In May, the US Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said 74.9% of its members complained that U.S. and Chinese sanctions taxes had a negative impact on their businesses.
Meanwhile, more than 40% of US businesses have been or are considering relocating their manufacturing facilities outside of China.
A Pew poll in March found that 66% of Americans have a bad view of China, up from 47% in 2017. Hans Till, a supply chain search consultant in Hong Kong, revealed He received more requests from American companies.
However, Till experts said changing the supply chain is not easy. “Not many companies have a vision to perform in the long term. You can’t change your supply chain overnight, ”he said.
A number of specialized manufacturers and suppliers were surprised when the survey results were revealed by Qima.
Fabien Gaussorgues, chief executive of Sofeast, based in Shenzhen, shared that he had received many offers of cooperation from potential US customers right after the US issued the blockade; with the purpose of building new factories in China.
“This is beyond my imagination and it’s hard to explain — but in fact, I’m getting more projects from the US, even from Europe than ever before. Regardless of the trade war, if small businesses do not have large capital, they will still look to China, "he said.
