Marketing Specialist at Nantong Yanhuang Import & Export Co.,Ltd. Focused on promoting innovative materials like PBT and PET in global markets. Passionate about connecting suppliers with international clients to drive growth.
As a practitioner who is deeply involved in textile foreign trade, the hottest discussion in the industry in the past two days is Trump's visit to China from May 13 to 15. This visit is not just news, but also a weather vane for deciding "whether you can accept orders and dare to prepare materials" in the next six months. The pressure data of the past few years is in front of us: According to statistics, my country's textile and clothing exports will be 293.81 billion US dollars in 2025, a slight decrease of 2.4% year-on-year; Among them, exports to the United States were 44.93 billion US dollars, down 11.8% year-on-year. Especially since the tariff fluctuation in April 2025, the US tariff rate on Chinese textile products has soared from 4.4% to 38.4%, and many small and medium-sized factories have directly cut their orders in half. For example, our main PBT functional yarn and stock solution colored DTY are also facing The dilemma of buyers waiting and watching and orders scattered.
Before this visit to China, the legal dispute over the 10% global temporary tariff by the United States and the progress of consultations between the economic and trade teams of the two sides made the industry see the possibility of marginal improvement. The latest data shows that in March 2026, US textile and clothing imports were US $8.816 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8.38%, but a month-on-month decrease of 9.82%; Among them, 3.772 billion US dollars were imported from China. If trade uncertainties, tariff burdens are reduced, and U.S. buyers restart inventory replenishment, orders for functional yarns such as ours with high cost performance and strong quick response are expected to be the first to stabilize.
There are already cases around me: Some colleagues in Jiangsu and Zhejiang reported that inquiries have increased after April, and some companies that make recycled fibers have even received "replenishment orders" from brand owners. We also take advantage of this wave of expectations to stabilize old customers and promote new products with high added value (such as stock solution colored yarn with higher color fastness), instead of a single volume price war. After all, only when there are orders, profits, and research and development space can it be considered a real "recovery".