The impact of the US trade war for China's lighting industry
Following the US government’s 25% sanctioned tariff on China’s $34 billion imported products on July 6 this year, the Trump administration launched a list of targets on July 10, announcing an additional $200 billion in China’s losses. US products are subject to a 10% tariff. The trade war has the potential to be further upgraded.
In 2017, China's lighting industry exports totaled 40.88 billion US dollars, of which about 10 billion US dollars of lighting products exported to the United States, exports to the US market accounted for 24.5% of the total export value of the industry. The White House launched a new target list, covering 30 categories of products in the nine categories of lighting industry in China, covering 67% of all categories exported to the US; the amount involved is about 82%.
Most of the products in the US government's new target list are traditional lighting products, such as various types of tungsten halogen lamps, hot cathode fluorescent lamps, high-intensity gas discharge lamps, ballasts for discharge lamps, lamp accessories, and various types of lighting. Lamps, etc. Some of the products in the lighting category (such as chandeliers and ceiling lamps, table lamps and bedside lamps, Christmas lamps, etc.) contain some LED lighting products.
More than a decade ago, China's lighting appliance manufacturers under the guidance of the government and industry organizations, the implementation of lighting new technology development and product transformation and upgrading. Since some enterprises still have certain production capacity of traditional lighting products, some manufacturers have seized the “golden tail” of traditional lighting products to pan for gold in the North American market. Therefore, such products are currently exported to the United States and still occupy a certain amount and a large proportion. Products such as tungsten halogen lamps and energy-saving lamps have always been the favorite electric light source products for American consumers. The EU market will gradually become difficult to see the tungsten halogen lamp after 2018, but although the US market has been expected to close, the current market fever has not seen a significant decline. Energy-saving lamps are widely used in the US market and have been the first choice for American families who love high-efficiency lighting products for many years. It can be foreseen that once the US government's new target list is implemented, many consumers in the United States will spend more on spending habits or change their consumption habits to replace them with new ones.
At present, China is already the world's largest producer and exporter of lighting electrical products. With the technological advancement of the industry, equipment upgrades and product upgrades, the lighting products produced in China are on a cost-effective basis, and the variety and quality are constantly changing. Improve and improve. In recent years, the number of various types of LED lighting products exported to the United States has increased rapidly, especially for LED bulbs, tungsten lamps, PAR lamps, down lights, tube lamps, panel lamps, etc. . Many enterprises (especially large and medium-sized enterprises) have basically completed the transformation and upgrading of traditional lighting to the production of LED lighting products. Due to the convenient procurement of components and raw materials, the industrial chain is fully equipped, especially with a large number of skilled workers, we can expect that the competitive advantage of China's lighting industry in the international market is more obvious. But if the trade war escalates, market competition and corporate exports will face new pressures.
As the industries and markets of China and the United States have distinct characteristics and complementarities, exporting companies expect the market of the two countries to be mutually beneficial in the context of a relatively stable exchange rate. But in the face of the changing and uncertain policies of the Trump administration, Chinese lighting manufacturers will also have a variety of choices and preparations. On the one hand, pay attention to the “One Belt, One Road” policy of the Chinese government, broaden the export perspective and increase the development of new markets along the “Belt and Road” countries. On the other hand, adjust the market focus, adapt to the national economic construction and the improvement of the people's consumption level, and transform the domestic market supply; especially in accordance with the call of the central government for western development and precise poverty alleviation, using effective funds and policies in the new rural areas of China and In terms of the construction of new towns, we will launch corporate brands, foster sales channels, and seize opportunities for domestic market development.