The ongoing 137th China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as Canton Fair, kicked off its second phase on Wednesday, showcasing an extensive range of home life products.
The five-day second phase emphasizes "quality home life," featuring sections dedicated to building and decorative materials, home decorations, and gifts, catering to the diversified demands of global buyers seeking related exquisite products.
Over 167,000 products will be shown during the second phase, making it the most extensive collection among the fair's three phases.
"That's the first time that I'm here. Very good. It's a huge amount of variety, and virtually every vendor is here and also the vendors that we want to talk to. It's very well organized. I mean, great facilities," said a Canadian buyer.
Chinese service robots caught the spotlight during the just-concluded first phase, impressing customers with advanced technologies and functions and generating substantial orders for exhibiting companies.
"This part of the fair is amazing, because I have never seen in person a robot like this and it's impressive. I am here seeing the future," said a Venezuelan buyer.
The Canton Fair's first phase, which concluded on Saturday, attracted over 148,000 overseas buyers from 216 countries and regions, marking a 20.2 percent increase compared to last year.
The 137th fair is divided into three phases: the first, running from April 15-19, focuses on advanced manufacturing; the second, from April 23-27, focuses on quality home furnishings; and the third, from May 1-5, on products that promote a better quality of life.
The Canton Fair spans 1.55 million square meters of exhibition areas, with about 74,000 booths, including nearly 73,000 for exports and about 1,600 for imports.
Established in 1957, the Canton Fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou. It is the longest-running of several comprehensive international trade events in China and has been hailed as the barometer of China's foreign trade.
137th Canton Fair opens 2nd phase, showcasing home life products
Shipments from China to the United States have surged since the two countries announced tariff cuts, driving up freight shipping costs for U.S. companies who are rushing to replenish inventories in the 90-day window and prepare for an uncertain future.
Among them is Stonemaier Games, a U.S. tabletop game publisher which has been producing games in China and selling them in the domestic market over the past 13 years.
Jamey Stegmaier, founder and president of the company, told China Central Television that they are trying to ship products out of China as quickly as possible, but the surging demand in freight shipping has made it much harder.
U.S. bookings for container shipments from China to the U.S. had surged by nearly 300 percent as of Wednesday, which has driven up freight shipping prices, according to data from container-tracking software provider Vizion.
"The challenge we are facing now is that a lot of other companies are doing the same thing. So, we are facing shipping delays, port congestions and higher freight shipping costs as a result. I don't have exact numbers on how much the prices will increase. Usually, freight shipping costs are locked in for about a month. So, on June 1, we anticipate seeing those prices go up significantly. And for any shipments that leave China for us in late June, there is the risk that they won't even arrive within the 90-day window. 90 days will fly by," Stegmaier said.
Stegmaier said his company is planning on their winter holiday production run, but it will be much more modest than usual as they don't know how much the tariffs will be at that time.
"The current challenge that we're facing is largely one of uncertainty. I don't even know if the 90-day tariff reprieve will hold. I don't know what will happen after that. So, we are planning for a very uncertain future. And that's the biggest impact, I would say, both on the production side and the inventory that we plan on bringing and holding here in the U.S. at our warehouses," he said.
Questioning the ability of the current U.S. government to build partnerships with other countries, Stegmaier expressed hope that his country will improve its economic ties with other countries and create a more stable business environment.
"So, I'm hopeful for what the future brings in stronger ties between the U.S. and China and any other country. I'm worried the current administration in the U.S. isn't well-equipped to handle that sort of strong, healthy relationship. But I'm hopeful that relationship will improve," he said.
Following a two-day China-U.S. high-level meeting on economic and trade affairs in Geneva, the world's two largest economies announced in a joint statement on Monday a series of measures, tariff modification measures, aimed at easing trade tensions, which took effect on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the United States will place a 90-day pause on 24 percentage points of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of China, while retaining the remaining rate of 10 percent on those articles. It will also remove the additional tariff rates on imports from China announced on April 8 and 9 respectively.
China will suspend 24 percentage points of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of the United States for an initial period of 90 days, while retaining the remaining additional ad valorem rate of 10 percent on those articles. It will remove the modified additional ad valorem rates of duty on those articles imposed by the No. 5 and No. 6 announcements issued by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on April 9 and 11, respectively.
U.S. businesses rush to ship products out of China following tariff cuts
