The foreign trade market on June 2, 2026 showed a multi-faceted trend. Domestic and foreign trade benefits and challenges coexist, and the international market is also full of variables.
In terms of domestic and foreign trade dynamics, first of all, good news came from the China-Europe freight train.
On June 2, the China-Europe freight train loaded with 55 standard containers successfully left the Erenhot port. This marked that the throughput of China-Europe freight trains in the middle passage exceeded 2,000 in 2026, setting a new record high for the same period.
As the core trunk corridor for cross-border transportation between China and Europe, the Middle Corridor is operating at a high density on a regular basis, greatly smoothing the logistics links for domestic mechanical and electrical, auto parts, daily necessities, and new energy products to be exported to Europe and Central Asia.
Its transportation timeliness is stable and its transportation capacity is abundant, which effectively hedges the pressure of price increases during the peak season of shipping and provides a cost-effective logistics option for foreign trade companies in the central and western regions to go overseas.
The new version of the new foreign investment regulations was also officially announced today and will be fully implemented on July 1, 2026.
The “Regulations of the State Council on Foreign Investment” clearly support enterprises to carry out market-oriented and independent overseas investment and international production capacity cooperation, simplify the foreign investment registration process, optimize cross-border investment and financing services, standardize the compliance management of overseas investment, and take into account openness, empowerment and risk prevention and control.
The new policy will significantly lower the threshold for foreign trade companies to establish overseas factories, brand mergers and acquisitions, and supply chain layout, and help companies deeply explore the global market and improve their overseas industrial layout.
The “Overseas Chinese Help Thousands of Enterprises and Thousands of Products Go Overseas” economic and trade exchange conference was successfully held in Chengdu. Relying on the Belt and Road cooperation platform, it established a channel for overseas overseas Chinese businessmen to accurately connect with Sichuan and Chongqing foreign trade companies.
The event focuses on advantageous categories such as light industry, home furnishings, mechanical and electrical products, and specialty agricultural products, helping small and medium-sized foreign trade companies in the western region to quickly develop markets in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East by relying on overseas Chinese businessmen channels, filling the shortcomings of the western foreign trade overseas channels, and promoting the coordinated growth of regional foreign trade.
However, most domestic commodities closed higher, putting pressure on export manufacturing costs.
Domestic commodities generally rose today, with industrial metals recording outstanding gains. Among them, Shanghai tin rose by more than 5%, Shanghai aluminum, international copper, palladium and platinum and other varieties rose by more than 2%, and raw materials such as crude oil, methanol, and aluminum alloys rose simultaneously.
The increase in commodity prices is directly transmitted to the downstream manufacturing industry. The production costs of export enterprises such as hardware, auto parts, metal products, and machinery and equipment continue to rise. It is recommended that enterprises lock materials and prices in a timely manner, optimize order quotations, and avoid the risk of profit compression.
In terms of international foreign trade dynamics, the Office of the United States Trade Representative released a new regulatory plan, which plans to impose a 25% punitive tariff on all Brazilian imported goods except for categories covered by 232 national security tariffs.
Among them, bulk raw material categories such as beef, coffee, nuts, petroleum, and metal ores are exempted, and categories such as industrial finished products, light industrial products, and machinery and equipment will be focused on additional taxation.
This move will disrupt the South American regional trade system, and the global supply chain may be restructured. Foreign trade companies need to pay attention to changes in orders in the South American market and adjust their regional layout strategies in a timely manner.
Export controls in global resource countries continue to tighten. Indonesia officially announced that it will strengthen export controls on the three core categories of palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys, strictly control the total export volume, and raise export access standards; Russia has extended its aviation kerosene export ban to ensure local energy supply.
The tightening of exports of raw materials from many countries will lead to a tighter supply of global industrial raw materials, energy, and oil and fat products and intensified price fluctuations, which will continue to affect the cost system of midstream and downstream foreign trade manufacturing companies.
South Korea’s exports continue to be booming, with exports reaching a high of US$80 billion for three consecutive months. Exports of semiconductors, new energy, automobiles, and petrochemical products have significantly boosted exports.
The overall foreign trade boom in East Asia continues to rebound, and the synergy effect of the regional industrial chain is highlighted, which is beneficial to cross-border industrial cooperation and regional trade interconnection between China, Japan and South Korea, and drives the steady recovery of East Asia’s overall foreign trade.
After entering the peak shipping season in June, global freight rates have shown structural differentiation.
Today, the freight rates of the European container shipping line fell slightly by more than 4%, but overall they are still in the high range for the year; the freight rates of the American line, the Red Sea, and the African routes remain strong, and the shipping space is still tight and the bursting of spaces is the norm.
At present, overseas stocking continues to advance in the third quarter, and the tight supply and demand pattern of shipping capacity has not changed. It is difficult for short-term shipping costs to fall significantly. Foreign trade companies still need to lock in space in advance and control shipment timeliness and logistics costs.
To sum up, today’s domestic and foreign trade benefits continue to be released, with the surge in China-Europe freight train capacity, the implementation of new foreign investment policies, the expansion of overseas channels in the west, and the continued deepening of foreign trade opening up.
However, cost pressures have simultaneously emerged, and the general rise in bulk commodities has raised the cost of manufacturing exports.
At the international level, the United States has increased tariffs on Brazil and many countries have tightened export controls on raw materials. Global trade barriers and supply chain fluctuation risks have increased, and shipping prices have fluctuated at high levels.
It is recommended that foreign trade companies seize the dividends of China-Europe logistics and deploy overseas investment increases; strictly control raw material and shipping costs, adjust product quotations in a timely manner; diversify overseas market layout, avoid the risk of changes in trade policies in a single region, and steadily promote the delivery of peak season orders.
