From "Made in China" to "Global Layout"
Tariff Mediation Unlocks New Overseas Routes for the Printing and Packaging Industry
From May 10th to 11th, the Chinese chief negotiator, Vice Premier He Lifeng, and the US chief negotiator, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, held high-level economic and trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland. This round of talks attracted high attention from the international community. At 9 a.m., local time on May 12th, the two sides issued the "Joint Statement of the China-US Economic and Trade Talks in Geneva".
According to the statement, the US side has committed to eliminating all 91% of the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods under Executive Order No. 14259 of April 8th, 2025 and Executive Order No. 14266 of April 9th, 2025, and amending the 34% "equivalent tariffs"' imposed on Chinese goods under Executive Order No. 14257 of April 2nd, 2025. Among them, 24% of the tariffs will be suspended for 90 days, while the remaining 10% of the tariffs will be retained. Correspondingly, China has lifted 91% of the countermeasure tariffs imposed on US goods in total. In response to the 34% of the "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the US, the corresponding 24% of the tariffs will be suspended for 90 days, while the remaining 10% of the tariffs will be retained. China has also accordingly suspended or lifted non-tariff countermeasures against the United States.
The busy scene at Nanjing Port on May 12th (Visual China)
The financial logic of tariff reduction: cost restructuring and global capital flows
The reduction of tariffs between China and the United States marks a phased relaxation of international trade barriers, releasing significant financial dividends for printing and packaging enterprises. From the perspective of finance, tariffs are essentially transaction costs in international trade. Their reduction directly lowers the marginal cost of enterprises' exports and increases the margin of profit. According to a study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for every 1% reduction in tariffs, the net profit margin of export-oriented enterprises can increase by 0.3% to 0.5%. For the printing and packaging industry, this policy dividend has further magnified the scale effect of "Made in China" : China has the world's most complete industrial chain cluster, from paper, ink to intelligent equipment production. The localization vertical integration capability can quickly respond to the demand for supply chain reconstruction after tariff adjustments, reducing the pressure of upfront capital expenditure for building factories overseas.
Furthermore, the reduction of tariffs has accelerated the flow of global capital into China's manufacturing industry. According to the analysis of Guotai Haitong Securities, the "certainty" advantages of China's manufacturing industry include the quality of the labor force, the completeness of infrastructure and the resilience of the supply chain, making it the preferred target for international capital to avoid trade friction risks in the context where it is difficult for third-party countries to replace it. For instance, Lenovo has controlled the tariff cost within 5% of the total cost through the model of "core components in China + overseas assembly", and at the same time, it has optimized the capital turnover efficiency by using the global unified procurement system. This model offers a replicable capital allocation path for printing and packaging enterprises: taking China as the R&D and manufacturing hub, achieving localized delivery through overseas nodes, and reducing the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and policy uncertainties on cash flow.
Financial tools for overseas expansion strategies: Supply chain finance and risk management
During the window period of tariff reduction, printing and packaging enterprises need to rely on financial tools to optimize the capital structure of their global layout. Supply chain finance has become a key leverage: Through methods such as accounts receivable financing and inventory pledge, enterprises can alleviate the pressure of working capital during overseas expansion. For instance, the Wenzhou printing and packaging industrial cluster has shortened the production cycle from the traditional 30 days to 15 days through the "1+N" distributed supply chain network (with China as the core and radiating to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions), and at the same time, it has utilized cross-border factoring services to shorten the payment collection cycle and enhance the efficiency of capital utilization.
Exchange rate risk management is another core issue. Enterprises can hedge against the risk of domestic currency fluctuations through derivatives such as forward foreign exchange contracts and currency swaps. Take a leading enterprise in Longgang as an example. When it built a factory in Saudi Arabia, it locked in the financing cost of US dollars and took advantage of the internationalization trend of the RMB to sign cross-border RMB settlement agreements with local banks to reduce exchange losses. In addition, the market expansion expectations brought about by the reduction of tariffs can attract venture capital and industrial funds to participate in overseas projects, forming a positive cycle of "policy dividends - capital injection - capacity upgrading".
From trade frictions to resilient growth: The Financialization and Reconstruction of Global Value chains
The "shortening" trend of the global value chain (such as production moving closer to the consumer market) is forcing enterprises to restructure their asset portfolios. The printing and packaging industry needs to reduce the risk of heavy capital investment through "light-asset overseas expansion" : for instance, replacing full acquisition with technology licensing and joint venture factory construction to diversify the impact of geopolitical and tariff fluctuations. Due to their advantage in labor costs, Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have become the first choice for Chinese enterprises to layout regional supply chains. However, it is necessary to be vigilant against the risk of industrial chain fragmentation caused by "early-maturing deindustrialization".
Against this backdrop, digital technology has become the core tool for enhancing the resilience of the value chain. The industrial Internet platform can monitor the global production capacity distribution in real time and dynamically adjust the production plan. Blockchain technology is used for credit traceability in cross-border trade to reduce transaction friction costs. For instance, a certain enterprise in Wenzhou has shortened the delivery cycle for North American customers by 40% through a digital order management system, and has automatically executed tariff preferential terms by using smart contracts to reduce compliance costs.
Policy Synergy and market Opportunities: Platform Empowerment of Exhibitions
When enterprises go global, they not only rely on their internal capabilities but also need to leverage external resource integration. The 2025 China (Wenzhou) International Intelligent Printing and Packaging Industry Exhibition (August 28-30) is a key platform. The exhibition is expected to attract over 600 international buyers, covering markets in RCEP, the Middle East and along the "Belt and Road Initiative", providing enterprises with cross-border connection opportunities right at their doorstep. By showcasing cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent printing equipment and green packaging solutions, Chinese enterprises can quickly reach the demands of overseas customers and shorten the market validation cycle. The cross-border procurement matching event and industry forum held concurrently with the exhibition will also point out new development paths for enterprises.
Respond to uncertainty with certainty and anchor the new coordinates of global growth
The reduction of tariffs is not an isolated incident but a microcosm of the deepening integration of China's manufacturing industry into the global value chain. From a financial perspective, enterprises need to transform policy dividends into capital allocation efficiency and build a global moat through supply chain resilience, technological empowerment and risk management. The holding of the Wenzhou exhibition in August precisely provides a strategic node for the industry to aggregate resources and amplify potential. Come to Wenzhou in August and witness together the deep collision between the competitiveness of "Made in China" and the opportunities of "global layout", writing a new chapter for the overseas expansion of the printing and packaging industry.