Cross-border e-commerce is facing the transformation of localization, branding and AI as tariff costs increase.
As tariff pressure increases under trade protection, the era of cross-border e-commerce for small packages shipped overseas is coming to an end.
“There is no going back to the form of small parcel exports. We must break away from this kind of thinking and adjust from going overseas in the form of commodity packages to going overseas in the form of brands. Only then will there be a future.” On June 16, Yang Yi, head of overseas brand marketing for AliExpress, said during the 2026 China (Guangzhou) Cross-border E-commerce Fair.
After the United States canceled its tariff exemption policy for small packages last year, the European Union will also cancel its tariff exemption policy for small packages under 150 euros on July 1 this year.
“This will significantly increase the cost of exporting low-unit-price products in cross-border e-commerce. Some small and medium-sized sellers will face challenges with labor-intensive products, and the structure of overseas products will undergo major changes in the future.” Yang Yi said.
Localization, branding and AI will be the three major coping strategies.
According to Yang Yi, AliExpress is working hard to work with Chinese brand merchants to deploy overseas goods to overseas warehouses in various countries. This is one of the main trends in the future.
Currently, AliExpress has set up overseas warehouses in 27 countries to help merchants improve their logistics fulfillment capabilities.
“Compliance will be a test. Chinese goods must be promoted from commodity form to brand form overseas in order to have a premium and bear the cost increase caused by tariffs. The next step may be the arrival of a new era of Chinese brands.” Yang Yi said that AliExpress plans to help 2,000 Chinese brands go overseas to double their scale.
In addition, AI can reduce costs and increase efficiency, and has been used in cross-border e-commerce product release, translation, customer service, customs declaration and other aspects, significantly reducing operating and labor costs.
Yang Yi said that some leading cross-border e-commerce companies could only operate business in 7-8 countries in the past, but in the future they may be able to serve hundreds of national markets at the same time.
Enterprises in the industrial belt also believe that branding, market diversification, and warehousing in advance are countermeasures.
Zhao Jiang, general manager of Guangzhou Yiyun Beauty Industry Belt Product Selection Center, said that some of their manufacturer customers already have their own brands in six countries, and their target markets are expanding from Europe and the United States to overseas emerging markets to digest the impact of cross-border e-commerce tariffs.
“Spot goods are the trend.” Liu Gang, founder of the Zhongshan Lamp Factory Cross-Border Spot Alliance, said that they have organized more than 40 factories in the industry to use overseas warehouses to provide foreign e-commerce sellers with spot goods to help export high-value-added lighting products.
They have built their own overseas warehouses in the United States, and have also started leasing overseas warehouses in Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Next, how to develop overseas warehouses in compliance is a problem that the industry needs to further solve.
Liu Feina, executive president and secretary-general of the Guangdong Provincial Internet Business Association, analyzed that the cancellation of tax exemptions for small-value packages in Europe and the United States has had a chain reaction, and relevant policies in many overseas countries and regions such as Brazil and Vietnam are also tightening. This forces cross-border e-commerce companies to now take compliance as the first step to go overseas.
“Compliance used to be a bonus, now it is a must-answer question, and in the future it will be the ticket.” At the same time, AI also brings new opportunities to cross-border e-commerce companies. AI can make pictures and videos. Some AI-native sellers can even operate with one person worth hundreds of people, making cross-border e-commerce equal.
