Starting from the second quarter of 2025, disturbed by the U.S. tariff policy, China’s home appliance export momentum has significantly weakened, and some orders have accelerated to shift to domestic sales.
This transformation has had a structural impact on the retail industry by injecting high-quality supply into the domestic market and superimposing policy incentives, which has not only intensified competition but also brought new growth points.
From the supply side, high-quality foreign trade products have activated the retail chain.
Many export companies have long been OEMs for international brands, and their products meet international standards and are of excellent quality.
When these orders were transferred to domestic sales, retail channels responded quickly and replenished the market with high-quality products of the same style as foreign trade.
For example, JD.com has launched the “Export to Domestic Sales Support Plan” to purchase no less than 200 billion yuan of goods in the next year; Yonghui Supermarket has opened a “green channel” to quickly put the backlog of foreign trade goods on the shelves within 15 days.
What’s more worth mentioning is that local practices have also achieved remarkable results. For example, Suqian City has promoted more than 400 foreign trade companies to settle on the platform, launched nearly 6,000 products, and set up a “domestic sales zone for high-quality foreign trade products” of nearly 1,000 square meters in the core business district.
These measures directly improve the product richness of retail terminals, allowing consumers to buy cost-effective international quality home appliances at their doorsteps.
In terms of boosting demand, the transfer of goods for domestic sales coincides with the favorable policies, which effectively stimulates consumer demand.
In 2026, the state will continue the “old for new” policy and provide a 15% subsidy of the sales price for the purchase of first-class energy-efficient home appliances, covering 6 categories of products such as refrigerators and washing machines.
Driven by the “new national subsidy”, sales of key home appliance categories doubled month-on-month, and the vitality of offline physical retail was released.
At the same time, consumers are making more rational purchasing decisions and striving to find the most cost-effective products.
As the tariffs imposed by the United States have caused the terminal price of imported home appliances to rise by 15%-25%, “foreign trade goods” that are sold domestically have become a natural alternative with the advantage of “same quality, low price”, further amplifying the appeal of the retail market.
However, the return of export orders is not inclusive, but intensifies competition and differentiation in the retail industry.
China Chengxin International pointed out that the shift from exports to domestic sales has intensified competition, and leading companies have squeezed the survival space of the tail.
The consumer market is showing a K-shaped recovery, with innovative, overseas or cost-effective brands winning, while mass consumption is under pressure.
This means that retail companies that can integrate high-quality supply chains (such as JD.com and Yonghui) directly benefit from improved product richness and gross profit; while small and medium-sized merchants that rely on traditional models and have weak competitiveness face greater pressure.
But the problem is that this differentiation has also forced the industry to upgrade – retail companies pay more attention to supply chain efficiency, and consumers have shifted from focusing solely on price to pursuing comprehensive values such as greenness and intelligence in products.
In this process, the retail industry has adjusted under pressure and promoted the upgrading of the supply chain in a more efficient and diversified direction.
The shift from home appliance exports to domestic sales brought about by the U.S. tariff policy has brought challenges to the retail industry, but it has also provided opportunities for industry reform and development.
In the long run, this will help China’s retail market become more mature and complete, providing consumers with more high-quality goods and services.
