Recently, the global trade landscape has been severely disrupted by a new round of tariff adjustments. The United States is set to officially implement new tariff policies on October 5, imposing additional duties of 15% – 40% on goods shipped before August 7. Many key manufacturing countries, including South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, are included in the adjustment scope. This has shattered enterprises’ established cost accounting systems and triggered shocks across the entire chain, from exports of home appliances like refrigerators to maritime logistics, forcing companies to urgently restructure their operational logics during the policy buffer period.
I. Refrigerator Export Enterprises: Double Squeeze of Sharp Cost Increases and Order Reconfiguration
As a representative category of home appliance exports, refrigerator enterprises are the first to bear the brunt of tariff impacts. Enterprises from different countries face differentiated challenges due to differences in production capacity layouts. For Chinese enterprises, the United States has included refrigerators in the steel derivative tariff list. Coupled with the additional 15% – 40% tariff rate this time, the comprehensive tax burden has increased significantly. In 2024, China’s exports of refrigerators and freezers to the United States amounted to $3.16 billion, accounting for 17.3% of the total export volume of this category. Every 10 – percentage – point increase in tariffs will add over $300 million to the annual cost of the industry. Calculations by a leading enterprise show that for a multi – door refrigerator with an export price of $800, when the tariff rate rises from the original 10% to 25%, the tax burden per unit increases by $120, and the profit margin is squeezed from 8% to below 3%.
South Korean enterprises encounter the special dilemma of “tariff inversion.” The tariff rate for refrigerators produced in South Korea and exported to the United States by Samsung and LG has increased to 15%, but their factories in Vietnam, which undertake a larger share of exports, face a higher 20% tariff rate, making it impossible to avoid costs through production capacity transfer in the short term. What’s more troublesome is that the steel components in refrigerators are subject to an additional 50% Section 232 special tariff. The dual tax burden has forced a 15% increase in the retail prices of some high – end refrigerator models in the United States, resulting in an 8% month – on – month decline in orders from supermarkets like Walmart. Chinese – funded home appliance enterprises in Vietnam face even greater pressure. The transshipment model of “produced in China, labeled in Vietnam” has completely failed due to the 40% punitive tariff rate. Enterprises such as Fujia Co., Ltd. have had to increase the local procurement ratio of their Vietnamese factories from 30% to 60% to meet the rules of origin requirements.
The risk – resistance capabilities of small and medium – sized enterprises are even more fragile. An Indian refrigerator OEM mainly supplying niche American brands has completely lost its price competitiveness due to the 40% additional tariff rate. It has received cancellation notices for three orders totaling 200,000 units, accounting for 12% of its annual production capacity. Although the tariff rate for Japanese enterprises is only 25%, combined with the impact of the yen’s depreciation, export profits have been further eroded. Panasonic has planned to transfer part of its high – end refrigerator production capacity to Mexico to obtain tariff preferences.
II. Maritime Shipping Market: Violent Fluctuations between Short – Term Booms and Long – Term Pressures
The alternating “rush – shipping tide” and “wait – and – see period” triggered by tariff policies have thrown the maritime shipping market into extreme volatility. To lock in the old tariff rate before the August 7 shipping deadline, enterprises released orders intensively, leading to a situation of “no available space” on the routes to the western United States. Shipping companies such as Matson and Hapag – Lloyd have successively raised freight rates. The surcharge for a 40 – foot container has risen to as high as $3,000, and the freight rate on the route from Tianjin to the western United States has increased by more than 11% in a single week.
Beneath this short – term prosperity lurk hidden concerns. The shipping companies’ model of skyrocketing freight rates is unsustainable. Once the new tariffs come into effect on October 5, the market will enter a period of cooling demand. The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products predicts that after the implementation of the new policies, the volume of goods transported on the routes from China to the western United States for home appliances will decrease by 12% – 15%. By then, shipping companies may face the risks of increased container vacancy rates and plummeting freight rates.
More severely, enterprises are starting to adjust their logistics routes to reduce tariff costs. Direct shipping orders from Vietnam to the United States have decreased, while cross – border transportation via Mexico has increased by 20%, forcing shipping companies to re – plan their route networks. The additional scheduling costs will ultimately be passed on to enterprises.
The uncertainty of logistics timeliness further exacerbates enterprises’ anxiety. The policy stipulates that goods not cleared for customs before October 5 will be retroactively taxed, and the average customs clearance cycle at western US ports has been extended from 3 days to 7 days. Some enterprises have adopted the strategy of “splitting containers and arriving in batches,” dividing a whole batch of orders into multiple small containers with less than 50 units each. Although this increases logistics operation costs by 30%, it can improve customs clearance efficiency and reduce the risk of missing the deadline.
III. Full – Industry Chain Conduction: Chain Reactions from Components to the Terminal Market
The impact of tariffs has penetrated beyond the finished product manufacturing stage and continues to spread to the upstream and downstream industries. Enterprises producing evaporators, a core component of refrigerators, were the first to feel the pressure. To cope with the 15% additional tariff, South Korea’s Sanhua Group has lowered the purchase price of copper – aluminum composite pipes by 5%, forcing Chinese suppliers to reduce costs through material substitution.
Compressor enterprises in India are in a dilemma: purchasing local steel to meet the rules of origin requirements in the United States increases costs by 12%; if imported from China, they face the dual squeeze of component tariffs and product – level tariffs.
Changes in demand in the terminal market have formed a reverse transmission. To avoid inventory risks, US retailers have shortened the order cycle from 3 months to 1 month and require enterprises to have the ability for “small – batch, fast – delivery.” This has forced enterprises like Haier to establish bonded warehouses in Los Angeles and pre – store core refrigerator models in advance. Although the warehousing cost has increased by 8%, the delivery time can be reduced from 45 days to 7 days. Some small and medium – sized brands have chosen to withdraw from the US market and turn to regions with stable tariffs, such as Europe and Southeast Asia. In the second quarter of 2025, Vietnam’s refrigerator exports to Europe increased by 22% year – on – year.
The complexity of the policies has also given rise to compliance risks. The US Customs has strengthened the verification of “substantial transformation.” An enterprise was found to have “false origin” because its Vietnamese factory only carried out simple assembly and the core components were sourced from China. As a result, its goods were seized, and it faced a fine three times the amount of the tariff. This has prompted enterprises to invest more resources in establishing compliance systems. For one enterprise, the cost of auditing certificates of origin alone has increased by 1.5% of its annual revenue.
IV. Enterprises’ Multidimensional Responses and Capability Reconstruction
Nenwell stated that in the face of the tariff storm, it is building risk – resistance barriers through production capacity adjustments, cost optimization, and market diversification. In terms of production capacity layout, the “Southeast Asia + the Americas” dual – hub model is gradually taking shape. Taking refrigerator equipment as an example, it serves the US market with a 10% preferential tariff rate and, at the same time, seeks zero – tariff treatment under the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement, reducing the risk of fixed – asset investment by 60%.
Deepening cost control towards refinement is also an important aspect. By optimizing the production process, the steel content in refrigerators has been reduced from 28% to 22%, decreasing the base for paying tariffs on steel derivatives. Lexy Electric has increased the automation level of its Vietnamese factory, reducing unit labor costs by 18% and offsetting some of the tariff pressure.
The market diversification strategy has shown initial results. Enterprises should increase efforts to explore markets in Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. In the first half of 2025, exports to Poland increased by 35%; South Korean enterprises have focused on the high – end market. By equipping refrigerators with intelligent temperature control technology, they have increased the price premium space to 20%, partially covering the tariff costs. Industry organizations also play an important role. Through services such as policy training and exhibition matchmaking, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products has helped more than 200 enterprises gain access to the EU market, alleviating their dependence on the US market.
Tariff adjustments in different countries not only test enterprises’ cost – control capabilities but also serve as a stress test for the resilience of the global supply chain. By undergoing systematic changes to adapt to new trade rules, as the room for tariff arbitrage gradually narrows, technological innovation, supply chain collaboration, and global operation capabilities will ultimately become the core competitiveness for enterprises to navigate through the trade fog.
Post time: Oct-21-2025 Views: