In recent times, the foreign trade field of new energy batteries has been very popular. The news that “the battery export tax rebate rate has been reduced to 6%, and there is still room for adjustment in subsequent policies” has spread rapidly in the industry, further stimulating the entire industry’s “rush for exports” rhythm.
At present, the domestic new energy battery industry is intensifying, and overseas markets have become the core direction for most companies to break through. Data from multiple domestic ports show that in the past month, the export customs declaration volume of new energy battery goods has generally increased by more than 30% month-on-month, and space reservations for some popular routes have been scheduled for a month later.
New energy battery containers waiting to be shipped are accumulating in domestic port yards, and export popularity continues to rise
However, many foreign trade merchants only focus on the speed of shipment, but ignore the refined control of costs. Instead, there is a situation of “shipping a lot of goods but not making any money.”
Senior logistics experts in the industry remind that this reduction in the tax refund rate is equivalent to a direct reduction of profit margins of 3 points. If the traditional extensive logistics and delivery model is still used, the high overseas port demurrage fees, inspection fines and intermediary price differences may completely eat up all remaining profits, and even lead to a situation where the more you pay, the more you will lose.
If you want to survive and achieve profitability on the battery foreign trade track in 2026, you must focus on reducing costs and avoiding pitfalls in logistics links. Three core points must be done:
First, China-Europe freight trains should be preferred for Eurasian routes rather than blindly shipping by sea.
Since this year, China-Europe freight trains have completely overcome the technical difficulties of regular transportation of lithium batteries and have now become the core artery for new energy cargo transportation in Eurasia.
Compared with sea transportation, the China-Europe train has a more stable timeliness. The entire transportation time is only one-half to one-third of that of sea transportation, and it is less prone to moisture and cargo damage during transportation. The faster arrival speed can also more than double the efficiency of merchants’ capital recovery. The capital cost saved is invisible profit.
Second, strictly abide by customs declaration rules and never conceal “red goods” without a dangerous package certificate.
This year, customs inspections of dangerous goods exports have been significantly intensified. Once the concealment of reports is verified, not only will they face huge fines, but the relevant companies will also be included in the import and export blacklist, which will affect the development of all subsequent businesses.
Merchants who do not have a dangerous goods certificate can complete packaging upgrades through compliance agencies and use formal dangerous goods LCL channels, and can also achieve legal and safe shipping.
Third, focus on verifying the relevant qualifications for overseas tail-end distribution.
After the goods arrive at an overseas port, if the truck that undertakes the delivery does not have a dangerous goods transportation license in the corresponding region, such as the ADR qualification required by Europe or the DOT qualification required by the United States, the truck will be directly detained once discovered by the local regulatory authorities. The resulting dangerous warehouse rental fee can reach hundreds of dollars a day, which will bring huge additional losses to the merchants.
A tail-end distribution fleet with formal dangerous goods transportation qualifications is an important guarantee for the safe delivery of goods
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, China’s lithium battery exports increased by 22% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, and demand growth in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America exceeded 40%. In the long term, the market space for new energy battery exports is still very broad.
This adjustment to the export tax rebate rate essentially forces the industry to shift from extensive price competition to refined operational competition. In addition to the technical competitiveness of the product itself, the cost control capabilities of the logistics link have become one of the core competitiveness of battery foreign trade merchants.
It is recommended that when choosing a logistics partner, merchants should give priority to service providers that have full-link qualifications for sea, land and air multimodal transport of nine types of dangerous goods and have self-operated licensed distribution fleets overseas to achieve door-to-door full-link control and minimize additional costs in intermediate links.
