The export situation of the LED display industry

In the surging tide of globalization, China's LED display has become a key path for the industry to seek sustainable growth. However, the road to the sea was not easy. On November 25, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada entering the U.S. In addition, a 10% tariff will be imposed on all goods imported from China; Six days later, some media reported that the opening of CES, the world's largest technology event, was imminent, and a large number of Chinese employees were denied visas by the United States. This undoubtedly sends a deeper signal: the threshold for Chinese companies to enter the US market is rising sharply, and even the most basic international business exchanges are in jeopardy. So, in the face of the U.S. market, a $28 trillion market, do LED display companies give up?

The road to sea for screen enterprises has been blocked

"Overseas exhibition" has become an important way for Chinese LED companies to explore overseas markets, and this momentum is continuing to increase. It is reported that from January 7 to January 10, 2025, the world's largest consumer electronics show, known as the "Spring Festival Gala of Science and Technology", the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2025), will be held at the Las Vegas International Convention Center in the United States. There are more than 4,000 global companies participating in the exhibition, of which about 30% are from China (the website shows 1,253), and this number also includes many LED display companies that are gearing up. However, recently, the "beautiful country" is doing things again, which has disrupted the plans of many Chinese companies to go overseas next year. According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, "Just over a month before the opening of CES, many Chinese employees who planned to participate in the exhibition were in dire straits, and they were denied entry visas to the United States, despite having official invitations from the organizers of the exhibition." Some people said that the scale of the CES visa refusal was "unprecedented".

Professionals believe that this large-scale visa refusal is closely related to the growing tension between the two countries. Earlier, US President-elect Donald Trump had said he planned to impose a 10% tariff on all imports from China and impose stricter market access restrictions. As an important bridge between China and the international market, CES has obviously weakened the international influence of Chinese LED display companies and products.

If the denial of a visa to CES is not unique, the ripple effects and potential repercussions will be far-reaching and widespread. This situation will not only hit the enthusiasm of LED screen companies to go overseas, but also bring a series of chain problems. First of all, the increase in the cost of exhibiting is unavoidable; Secondly, the refusal will also affect the company's overseas marketing plan; Finally, it will have a direct impact on other trade shows in the U.S. next year.

The advantages of China's LED display industry are difficult to shake

In fact, in the field of LED display industry, after years of hard work, it has built a solid foundation and formed a reasonable layout, and has the confidence to move forward steadily in the complex international economic and trade environment. The most critical reason is that China has an unshakable absolute advantage in LED production capacity, which is the core confidence to deal with external tariff pressure. The main production base of the global LED display is in China, and the total market share of China's LED display companies in 2023 will be more than 80%, and this proportion will not change much in 2024.

In addition, according to the data of the past three years according to customs statistics, the total export value of domestic LED displays in 2022 will be 11.076 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37%; In 2023, the domestic LED display export value will be 10.254 billion yuan, a decrease of 7.42% compared with 2022; In the first half of 2024, the export value of LED displays will reach about 5.349 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8%. The main growth came from international sports competitions, and Chinese companies seized various opportunities.

On the other hand, in recent years, China's LED export pattern has shown the characteristics of emerging markets contributing to the increase, the United States accounting for a lower proportion of exports as a whole and the United States is more dependent on China, the main driving force of export growth is shifting from European and American economies to Asia, Africa and Latin America, and more and more manufacturers are laying out the international market, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, as well as Africa, Latin America, etc. This means that China's LED display occupies a key position in the global supply system, even if the U.S. market fluctuates due to tariffs, it also has the ability to transfer products to other markets to digest production capacity and reduce the impact of dependence on the United States.

Even though tariffs may lead to short-term fluctuations in export volumes, in the long run, it will be difficult for the U.S. market to completely wean itself off Chinese LED products, and the cost of tariffs may be partially passed on to U.S. consumers or importers.