Cross border e-commerce 'offensive and defensive battle' under high tariff pressure: Amazon's investigation, seller breakthrough, and market game
Date：2025-04-17 09:28:00 View：
When the Trump administration raised tariffs on Chinese goods to the critical point of 145%, the cross-border e-commerce industry was forced into a high-pressure mode. The profit margin, which was already tight due to the increase in Amazon commissions and FBA fees, is now facing even more severe pressure.
In this storm, Amazon's "tariff investigation" and sellers' breakout strategies together outline a complex market game landscape.
1. Amazon's' Tariff Investigation Action '
Recently, an email from an Amazon strategic account manager has caused a stir in the cross-border community. The email directly pointed out the impact of tariffs on sellers' procurement, pricing, and logistics, and rarely requested sellers to share their response strategies, extending the time span to the end of April 2025.
Vanessa Hung, founder of online seller solutions, revealed that several of her US clients have received similar inquiries, including:
Is the supply chain shifting to Southeast Asia or Mexico?
Has the selling price been adjusted due to tariffs?
Is the change in Amazon logistics costs perceived?
What is more noteworthy is that Amazon is simultaneously promoting its European market to sellers, promising to attract sellers to divert risks with a "startup incentive+fee deduction" policy.
The platform is investigating the difficulties while selling remedies, exposing its deep anxiety: when 70% of the goods on the platform are deeply tied to the Chinese supply chain, the shock wave of tariffs has directly threatened the stability of the platform ecosystem.
As Hung said, "Amazon's marketplace model relies on the survival ability of sellers. If sellers collectively collapse, the platform's trillion GMV will collapse instantly. ”
2. The customs clearance environment has suddenly changed, and sellers are caught in a cat and mouse game
At the same time, the customs clearance environment in the North American market is undergoing structural tightening. Some cross-border sellers' goods have encountered issues such as an increase in unpacking rates, extended document review cycles, and even full container detention due to deviations in declaration elements at the destination port.
Industry analysts point out that such phenomena may be closely related to the chain reaction caused by the current three digit tariff rates - when some participants attempt to reduce costs through improper declaration methods, the inspection intensity of regulatory agencies will inevitably escalate simultaneously.
At present, major transit countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico, and Indonesia have been included in the key monitoring list.
3. Seller's response strategy
In the face of platform data collection, the best strategy for sellers is not defense, but leveraging:
Reverse output pain points: Emphasize the proportion of logistics costs and inventory turnover pressure in the Amazon questionnaire, and promote FBA rate adjustments;
Binding platform resources: Apply for Amazon Supply Chain Services (SCA) tariff optimization plan;
Seize the dividend of new tools: closely monitor Amazon's upcoming dynamic pricing API or tariff calculator.