Industry Insights

Recently, the news of Trump's visit to China has been widely discussed. As a small business owner engaged in mold exports, I have also been pondering: What exactly does this event mean for our business?

This report shares my own few genuine feelings.

Regarding the trade environment

To be honest, in the past few years, the Sino-US trade frictions have been the biggest headache for mold factories that export products. It wasn't the tariffs themselves that bothered us, but the "uncertainty".

Customers are reluctant to place long-term orders, and we are reluctant to prepare materials. Sometimes a project is negotiated, but the customer suddenly says, "Let's wait and see." This kind of waiting is very draining for business operations. There are many export-oriented factories around us that have gone without orders for a long time, but employees still have to be paid. This is a big problem for us.

This visit sent out a signal: Both sides have realized that a complete severance is unrealistic, and cooperation still needs to continue. For us in the manufacturing sector, as long as the relationship moves in a stable direction, we are willing to take orders, arrange production, and invest.

Regarding the competitiveness of Chinese molds

Many people have asked me: Isn't the US aiming for the manufacturing industry to return? Will you still have business to do in the future?

My view is: The competitiveness of Chinese molds is not entirely about being "cheap", but more about being "reliable".

We can deliver a set of molds within 25-35 days, and the mold can be tested successfully on the first attempt. If a client sends a message at midnight, we will reply the next morning. When encountering technical problems, our masters can provide solutions instead of asking the client "what to do".

This response speed and cooperation degree are accumulated over decades in the industrial chain. It's not something that can be moved away just by moving.

This time, Musk and Cook also joined in. Why? Because they know that the Chinese market and the Chinese supply chain remain crucial for them. For our mold factory, this is also a signal: as long as we provide good products and services, opportunities will always be available.

Regarding our own direction

The visit itself won't directly bring us orders, but it has made me more certain about a few things:

First, retaining existing customers is more important than anything else. The more complex the external environment is, the more we need to make our trusted customers feel at ease.

Second, we can't stop in terms of technology. Over the past few years, we have been making efforts in large molds and two-color molds because these are the value points that customers are truly willing to pay for.

Third, the market needs to be diverse. The United States is a good market, but it is not the only one. Europe and Southeast Asia, we are also gradually expanding.

I've been in the mold-making business for over a decade. To be honest, regardless of the global situation being good or bad, we will continue to work and deliver products as we should. Our company's philosophy will not change our production standards based on international circumstances. Whether a client will approach you for mold design or for production, it depends on your technical expertise and service quality. Therefore, our approach is very simple: We don't gamble with policies, we don't rely on trends, but we rely on hammering out molds one by one and producing a complete set of molds to build a solid business. The environment may change, but the principle of doing things well will not change.

Our website: https://www.hainamould.com/

Contact us: ciky@hainamould.com