At China’s biggest export fair, the trade war’s rising toll is clear to see

The latest flare-up in US-China tensions is casting a fresh – albeit limited – shadow over the autumn edition of the Canton Fair, China’s largest foreign trade exhibition, which kicked off on Wednesday.

With the threat of a return to triple-digit US tariffs hanging in the air, Chinese exporters in a slew of industries said they were pivoting away from the American market but faced squeezed profit margins and increased credit risks.

“We sent many Canton Fair invitations to European and American clients, but many US buyers said they would not attend,” said Louis Huang, a lighting exporter from China’s eastern Zhejiang province.

“Our US orders have shifted to Southeast Asia. The US market is essentially lost, so we can’t afford to lose the European market,” he added. “Next year’s orders look weak, with some clients holding 50 to 60 per cent inventory.”

The three-week Canton Fair, widely seen as a barometer for China’s vast export sector, features a record 32,000 exhibitors this year, including more than 10,000 hi-tech enterprises showcasing 353,000 products ranging from service robots to green energy solutions.