News.
Most sourcing news is written by people who've never set foot in a Chinese factory. Ours isn't. Updates on tariffs, export regulations, quality standards, and supply-chain shifts — filtered through what our agents actually see on factory floors in Shenzhen, Yiwu, and Guangzhou.
China's June exports grew at the fastest pace since 2021. The Q4 factory queue is already forming.
Customs data show June exports up 27% and imports up 36% in US dollars, the busiest month for China's factories in nearly five years. US retailers front-loading holiday orders are filling factory slots now, and importers worldwide are queuing behind them.
Iran hit a container ship and declared Hormuz closed. Gulf-bound China orders feel it first.
A missile disabled the GFS Galaxy on 11 July and Iran declared the strait closed the next morning. Transits are down to about a dozen a day, war-risk cover has repriced from 0.15% to 5% of a ship's value, and the Suez return carriers had just started is suddenly fragile.
China's power grid set a summer record a week early. Your factory's August ship date is the exposure.
China's peak electricity load hit a record 1.518 billion kW on 10 July, with Guangdong among provinces at their own highs. If a heatwave forces "orderly electricity use", factories are curbed before homes, and your ship date can slip with no warning.
28 workers died in a Jinjiang shoe factory fire. It exposes the factory check most importers skip.
A fire at the Huiteng Shoes factory in Fujian killed at least 28 people on 9 July, with flammable stock blocking the exits. A product inspection checks the goods, not the building they are made in, and factory safety is the sourcing blind spot most first-time importers skip.
China's yuan just hit its strongest level since 2023. Your next factory quote is where it shows up.
The PBOC set its daily yuan fixing below 6.80 per dollar for the first time since February 2023, a signal Beijing is comfortable letting the currency rise. A stronger yuan squeezes the RMB margin on every dollar-priced order, and factories pass it on at the next quote.
US imports are about to hit a record as buyers race a July 24 tariff deadline. Rushing a China order is how it goes wrong.
US ports are forecast to move a record 2.47 million containers in July as importers front-load ahead of a 24 July tariff change. The saving is real, and so is what the rush does to your quality control.
China's busiest ports are bracing for Super Typhoon Bavi. Your shipment decisions are due Thursday.
Ningbo's weather bureau is warning of Force 17 gusts between 10 and 12 July as the season's strongest storm heads for the Zhejiang and Fujian coast. What a port closure does to a July order, and where your container needs to be tonight.
China opened its lithium futures to foreign buyers. Your battery cost just changed address.
From 3 July 2026, foreign miners, battery makers and traders can trade Guangzhou lithium carbonate futures, the price your factory quotes cells against. China refines close to 60% of the world's lithium. What to check before your next battery order.
The UK just opened its toy rulebook for rewrite. AI toys are the reason.
A Call for Evidence launched 6 July 2026 covers AI-enabled toys and chemical safety, the first full look at rules written in 2011. Half of UK children already own an AI toy, and most of the world's toys ship from Guangdong. The file to collect before your next order.
MOQ When Importing From China: Why Factories Set One and How to Bring It Down
A factory quotes 5,000 units when you wanted 500. The minimum is a calculation, not a wall, and the real block is usually the upstream material, not the assembly line. Why the MOQ exists and seven ways to move it.
1688 vs Alibaba: What Each Is For, and Why the Cheaper Price Is Out of Reach
The same product often lists 20 to 40 percent cheaper on 1688 than on Alibaba. Why the two platforms are built for different buyers, the four walls that keep the domestic price out of reach from abroad, and how importers buy from 1688 anyway.
Trading Company or Factory? How to Tell Who You're Buying From in China
Most first orders from China run through a middleman the buyer never identified. How to spot a trading company, why it changes your price and recourse, and how to verify a real factory before you pay.
The US Opened a Rare Window to Cut Your China Tariff. It Closes 10 July.
On 2 June 2026 USTR opened comments on which Chinese-origin goods should get a tariff cut under a new US-China Board of Trade. The window closes 10 July, and only the importer of record can put a product on the record.
Alibaba Trade Assurance: What It Actually Covers, and the Gaps That Cost Importers
Trade Assurance is real protection inside a narrow box. The escrow releases at shipment, the cover stops at the supplier's cap, and one off-platform payment voids all of it. What it protects, and the four gaps that catch importers.
US Customs Banned Two Factories Overnight. The Same Rule Stops China Shipments Every Week.
On 23 June 2026 CBP banned all goods from two Jordan suppliers to Columbia and Under Armour over forced labour. The same mechanism, paired with the UFLPA, detains more China-made goods than any other rule, and the burden of proof falls on the importer.
The US Tariff Refunds Are Paying Out. One Box on Your Customs Form Decides If You See Yours.
More than $95 billion in IEEPA refunds is moving through US Customs, and FedEx will return about $800 million to customers from August. Only the importer of record can claim it, and on parcels into the US that party is often your courier, not you.
How to Pay a Chinese Supplier Safely Without Losing the Deposit
Importing from China runs on prepayment, and almost every loss starts with a full wire to a stranger. The deposit structure, the payment methods ranked by how much they protect you, and the wire fraud that drains first orders.
Britain Just Put a Deadline on Cheap China Parcels. The £135 Duty Break Ends in 2028.
On 23 June 2026 HM Treasury moved the end of the £135 low-value import duty relief to October 2028, six months early. If you fulfil UK orders by shipping units straight from China, the relief that made those parcels cheap now has a date on it.
HS Codes When Importing From China: How One Number Sets Your Duty Bill
The same product can carry two HS codes and two duty rates. The wrong one means overpaying every unit, a held container, or a back-dated bill. How classification works and how to lock the code before a deposit moves.
China Banned Exports to Two US Rare-Earth Firms. The Control Net Reaches Ordinary China-Made Goods.
On 22 June 2026 China added 10 US firms to its dual-use export control list. The regime behind it already licenses the rare-earth magnets in e-bikes, motors and beauty devices, and your supplier carries the delay.
The EU Bans Destroying Unsold Clothing From 19 July. The Product Passport Reaches Your Factory.
From 19 July 2026 the EU stops large companies destroying unsold clothing, and a textile Digital Product Passport follows in 2027. If you sell China-made apparel into the EU, the passport makes you prove where the garment and its materials came from.
Canada Just Put a 10% Surtax on Canned Vegetables. China Didn't Make the Exemption List.
On 19 June 2026 Canada imposed a 10% safeguard surtax on canned and frozen vegetables. The US, Mexico, Israel, Chile and developing countries are exempt. China is not. Here is what importers from China should check this week.
The EU Just Told Brussels to Build New Trade Weapons Against China.
After a late-night summit on 18 June 2026, EU leaders instructed the Commission to widen its trade-defence toolbox against China. No duty changed that night. The part to watch is a proposed rule that would push importers onto at least three suppliers.
China Signs 26 Banks Onto a New Cross-Border Rail for Paying Suppliers in Digital Yuan.
On 16 June 2026 the People's Bank of China onboarded the first institutions to CBETS, settling payments in e-CNY in hours instead of days. The headline is the currency. The part that reaches importers is the correspondent-bank plumbing it removes.
Britain Moves to Keep Its 24% Duty on China Wire Rod for Five More Years.
On 16 June 2026 the UK Trade Remedies Authority proposed extending the duty unchanged. The product is narrow. The rule behind it, that UK trade remedies on China only continue if industry defends them, touches every importer.
The Strait of Hormuz Is Reopening. Your Freight Relief Comes Later.
Over the weekend of 14 June the US and Iran reached a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and oil fell to a three-month low. Your China freight surcharges will ease in stages, because war-risk insurance, not the ceasefire, sets the timing.
A 130.76% US Antidumping Duty on China Van Trailers Reaches the Parts Too
On 10 June the US set a preliminary 130.76% antidumping duty on van trailers and subassemblies from China, stacking on a countervailing duty. US Customs collects it from the importer of record, and the scope reaches Chinese parts assembled in a third country.
China Tightens Export Declarations on Machine Tools and Drones from 30 June
From 30 June, GACC Announcements No. 77 and No. 78 raise the declaration bar on exported machine tools and drones, down to the parts. The exporter files it, but a wrong declaration holds the shipment at the Chinese port, and the delay is yours.
How to Read a Chinese Business License Before You Wire a Deposit
A supplier sends a license showing ten million yuan in capital, so you wire the deposit. The fields you didn't read: thirty thousand paid in, a trading scope, a stranger as legal rep. The six to check, and how to verify them free.
AQL Sampling Explained: The Inspection That Decides If Your China Order Ships
An inspector pulls 200 units from a 5,000-piece run. If 10 fail, your order ships; if 11, it's on hold. That line is set by a standard called AQL, and the three numbers inside it are yours to set before production.
China's Factory Prices Hit a Near 4-Year High in May. Your Next Quote Is the Catch.
On 10 June China's statistics bureau reported producer prices up 3.9% year on year in May, the fastest factory-gate inflation since July 2022. After almost two years of falling prices, the deflation discount that quietly held import costs down is over.
China's Exports Jumped 19.4% in May. Your Lead Time Is the Catch.
On 9 June China's customs administration reported exports up 19.4% in May, imports up 27.4%, and shipments to the US up 35.4%. A surge this size tightens factory capacity, and the production slot you could book in winter is harder to get now.
NNN vs NDA: the Contract a Chinese Court Will Actually Enforce
An NDA only stops your factory from sharing your design. It won't stop the factory making and selling your product. The bilingual NNN agreement closes that gap, if it is aimed at a Chinese court and chopped by the right entity.
China-to-US Shipping Rates Have Doubled Since February
On 5 June 2026 Far East to US West Coast spot rates hit $3,933 a container, up 109% since the Strait of Hormuz closed. Carriers publish their next bunker surcharge on 1 July, and the importers moving cargo before then are doing it for a reason.
Panama Cut Its Canal Draft. The El Niño Behind It Is the Signal.
On 5 June 2026 the Panama Canal Authority trimmed its Neopanamax draft to 49.5 feet from 3 July, bracing for an 82%-likely El Niño. The six-inch cut is small. It is also an early warning for US-bound China cargo.
The US Just Made the Importer of Record the Tariff-Fraud Target
On 3 June 2026 the US signed an executive order rebuilding importer-of-record rules and raising duty-evasion penalties, weeks after a record $549.5M customs-fraud settlement. When you import from China, the liability sits with you, not the factory.
China Customs Now Random-Tests Baby Goods and Electricals on the Way Out
From 1 June 2026, GACC Announcement No. 57 lets China Customs pull and lab-test two big export categories, baby products and low-voltage electricals, before they ship. How to keep your order from getting held at origin.
EU Duty-Free Parcels End on 1 July. The €150 Loophole Closes.
From 1 July 2026 the EU scraps its €150 duty-free threshold and adds a flat €3 customs duty, the first step of its biggest customs overhaul since 1968. What changes if you import from China.
Aluminium Just Hit a Four-Year High. Your China Metal Cost Moved.
LME aluminium touched $3,707.50 a tonne on 1 June 2026, the highest since March 2022. China sits at its capacity cap and scrapped its 13% export rebate. What that does to your quote, and what to lock first.
A Recalled Product Is the Importer's Bill, Not the Factory's
On 28 May 2026 an importer recalled about 10,400 China-made power sofas over a fire-prone switch. The factory in Zhejiang did not run the recall. The importer did. Why recall liability lands on you in the US, EU and UK, and the QC that prevents it.
US Tariff Refunds on China Imports: Who Actually Gets Paid
The US Supreme Court voided the IEEPA tariffs and CBP has refunded $20.6bn so far, with $166bn estimated owed. As of 29 May a government appeal could limit who collects the rest. What US importers should check this week.
China's May PMI Hit 50.0. The Factories You Use Are Below It.
China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 50.0 in May 2026. Big plants are still expanding; the small and mid-size factories most importers actually use slipped into contraction, and new orders fell below 50.
EU Steel: Half the Quota, Double the Duty on 1 July
From 1 July 2026 the EU cuts its tariff-free steel quota 47% and doubles the over-quota duty to 50%, plus a new melt-and-pour origin rule. Whether you pay zero or 50% now turns on the quota calendar.
Vietnam Drew a Section 301 Probe. Your China-Plus-One Plan Is the Target.
On 29 May 2026 the US opened a Section 301 investigation into Vietnam, the statute that produced the China tariffs. If you moved sourcing there to dodge duties, the country swap just relocated the risk.
Your Order Carries a Hidden Rare-Earth Magnet Licence
China put seven rare earth elements and the NdFeB magnets that contain them under export licensing in April 2025. The controls still bite in 2026, and the delay lands on whoever imports the e-bike, motor or beauty device.
Dragon Boat Festival 2026: the Risk Is the Week Before
Chinese factories close 19-21 June 2026. The three days off are easy to plan around; the rushed production in the week before is where orders get damaged. What to lock in now.
EU Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese Imports: Why You Pay
The EU added a duty up to 42.3% on Chinese adipic acid on 5 May 2026, and e-bikes already carry up to 70%. The importer of record pays, not the factory. How to check first.
China to Europe Shipping Rates Are Climbing Early in 2026
Asia-to-Europe rates rose for a third straight week and CMA CGM lifts freight to $4,700 a box on 1 June. What to book before the next increase.
DDP Shipping from China: A Practical Guide
How Delivered Duty Paid works, the hidden risks of cheap DDP quotes, and when it's the right Incoterm for European importers.
Supplier Sourcing in China: A Practical Guide
How supplier sourcing in China works — the channels compared, writing a spec that gets accurate quotes, and reading what a quote hides.
Supplier Verification: How to Vet Chinese Manufacturers
License and certification checks, what a real factory audit covers, NNN contracts, and the red flags to watch before money moves.
How to Find Reliable Suppliers in China
Separating real factories from traders, matching capacity to your order, and protecting yourself before you wire a deposit.