The tariff decisions of the Trump administration are renowned for their unpredictability and frequent reversals, evolving at a pace so rapid that even seasoned Wall Street analysts have exclaimed, "I can't keep up!"

On April 23, Beijing time, Trump again signaled a shift in his approach towards China, acknowledging that current tariffs on Chinese imports are excessively high and expressing optimism about a significant reduction in these rates.

The day prior, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen echoed this sentiment at an event hosted by JPMorgan Chase, suggesting that the tariff war between China and the United States would soon de-escalate.

In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "If the US truly seeks to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation, it must cease threats and extortion and engage in equal, respectful, and mutually beneficial dialogue with China. It is neither the right approach nor effective to discuss reaching an agreement with China while simultaneously exerting extreme pressure."

One day it's tax hikes, the next exemptions, and the day after, threats of new tariffs. Just as it was announced that tariffs on Chinese imports would rise to 145%, certain electronic products were quietly exempted a few days later. Some perceive this as the "art of the deal," while others criticize it as "chaotic decision-making."

However, this erratic behavior has undeniably introduced significant uncertainty for global enterprises, particularly those oriented towards exports.

On April 23, Beijing time (April 22, local time), Trump stated in the Oval Office of the White House that he would not adopt "tough measures" against China during tariff negotiations and expressed "optimism" about reaching an agreement "quite quickly" to "significantly reduce" the 145% tariffs imposed on Chinese imports.

Since April 2, China and the United States have witnessed a continuous escalation in tariffs, with the US raising tariffs and China retaliating in kind. By April 11, China announced an increase in tariffs on US goods exported to China from 84% to 125%, stating firmly, "Given the current tariff levels, there is no market acceptance for US goods exported to China. If the US continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will no longer pay heed to it."

Since then, the US has "softened" its stance on tariff policies. It initially announced the exemption of "reciprocal tariffs" on electronic products such as smartphones, computers, and chips, followed by Trump's acknowledgment of the excessively high current tariffs on Chinese imports and his expectation of a substantial reduction.

In response to Trump's erratic behavior, China has actively diversified its supply chains and collaborated with Southeast Asian countries to build a more resilient supply chain and global economic network, in addition to implementing reciprocal sanctions.

According to UN statistics, bilateral trade in goods between China and the United States reached $688.28 billion in 2024, with agricultural products constituting a significant area of Sino-US trade. Data from the US Department of Agriculture reveals that China was the largest export market for US soybeans in 2024.

Since the trade war commenced in 2018, China has increased imports of Brazilian soybeans.

According to Chinese customs data, following the outbreak of Sino-US trade frictions in 2018, China's imports of US soybeans declined from 32.85 million tons in 2017 to 22.13 million tons in 2024. During the same period, Brazilian soybean imports surged, rising from 50.93 million tons to 74.65 million tons.

Entering 2025, China has continued to increase its purchases of Brazilian soybeans, particularly since the escalation of the trade war in April. Mauricio Buffon, president of the Brazilian Soybean Growers Association, stated that China signed at least 2.4 million tons of soybean purchase contracts with Brazil in the first week of April, an "abnormally large" order equivalent to nearly one-third of China's usual monthly imports.

While accelerating the reconstruction of its supply chain, China is also actively maintaining cooperation with Southeast Asia.

Recently, China has signed a series of strategic cooperation agreements with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia.

First, with Vietnam, China signed the "Joint Statement on Further Strengthening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and Promoting the Construction of a China-Vietnam Community with a Shared Future" and agreements encompassing dozens of cooperation documents, extensively covering infrastructure connectivity, digital economy, green development, trade, investment, agriculture, and other fields.

Second, with Malaysia, China signed the "Joint Statement on Building a High-Level Strategic China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future" and exchanged more than 30 bilateral cooperation documents, covering cooperation on the three global initiatives, the "Dialogue between Confucianism and Islam," digital economy, service trade, the upgraded development of the "Two Countries and Two Parks" initiative, joint laboratories, artificial intelligence, railways, intellectual property rights, agricultural product exports to China, visa exemptions, giant panda conservation, and many other areas.

Finally, with Cambodia, China signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Economic Cooperation in Production and Supply Chains," which encourages enterprises to enhance multi-field production and supply chain cooperation through trade, investment, and technological collaboration, further unleashing the demonstration effect of economic and trade cooperation zones such as the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. Additionally, the two sides signed 37 cooperation agreements across various fields.

Under the shadow of Trump's erratic tariff policies, the cross-border e-commerce industry is grappling with unprecedented anxiety and confusion. Enterprises cannot ignore the potential impact of tariff policy adjustments but also hesitate to act rashly due to policy uncertainty.

Currently, many enterprises are already adjusting to Trump's tariffs. For instance, Temu and SHEIN have issued price adjustment announcements.

On April 18, SHEIN announced on its official US website that due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs, operating expenses have increased, and prices will be adjusted starting April 25, 2025. Temu also issued a similar notice, indicating a price increase from the same day. This synchronized action underscores the profound impact of tariff policies on the cost structure of cross-border e-commerce.

Concurrently, market research firm Sensor Tower revealed that SHEIN and Temu have reduced their advertising spending on US social media platforms. From March 31 to April 13, Temu's advertising spending decreased by an average of 31% compared to the previous 30 days, while SHEIN also declined by 19% over the same period.

In fact, as cross-border e-commerce platform enterprises, Temu and SHEIN have already accelerated their expansion into more global markets.

Temu is rapidly penetrating markets in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and other regions. Taking Poland as an example, its monthly active user base surged to 18.1 million in March 2025, surpassing the local leading e-commerce platform Allegro to become the most visited shopping platform in Poland. SHEIN is also experiencing rapid global expansion.

While the repeated tariff policies of the United States may have a short-term impact on the US market, for small and medium-sized sellers and enterprises primarily reliant on the US market, the impact may be relatively significant in the near term.

However, Trump's statement suggests that high tariffs will not persist, which could provide relief for enterprises dependent on the US market, and the impact may prove to be temporary.

For these enterprises, a prudent strategy might be to wait and see, as hasty decisions could become futile due to rapid policy reversals. For example, small and medium-sized sellers rushing to transfer inventory to a third country for transit or altering their supply chain layout to avoid current tariffs may find that the logistics costs, warehousing fees, and time invested in supply chain reconstruction become irretrievable once tariffs are reduced, leading to greater economic losses.

For the entire cross-border e-commerce and overseas industry, the potential easing of Trump's tariff policies represents a significant positive development. However, it remains uncertain whether future changes will occur.

Adjusting their psychological expectations may be the most crucial task for many cross-border e-commerce enterprises and merchants at present.