Relying on a Single Market Amplifies Risk for Brands

Flags of multiple countries flying on flagpoles against a blue sky, representing global trade and international e-commerce.

A few weeks ago I described how several brands relocating their manufacturing from China to Vietnam DERECHO still rely on Chinese parts and tooling for good reason. Here is part two of that story.

Brands that diversify their manufacturing locations often subsequently concentrate sales in a single destination—typically the United States. Cross‑border e‑commerce only accounts for just under one‑fifth of overall online retail.

The strategy of splitting production across multiple countries is intended to mitigate the perils of overdependence on any single supplier base—a concept known as “China‑plus‑one.” Investors and industry planners have long championed this approach. Yet the same logic warns against funneling all revenue to a single purchasing market.

Relying on one consumer base exposes a brand to currency fluctuations, shifts in consumer spending, and changes in trade policy. A single adverse movement can jeopardise the entire revenue stream.

Market Regimes Are Unstable

In the last year, a U.S.‑exclusive brand has witnessed considerable urin regulatory shifts. The de‑minimis threshold—allowing goods valued under $800 to enter duty‑free—underpinned inexpensive cross‑borderegree shipping aceite for a decade. That threshold was lifted for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, and for all other countries on August 29, 2025, more основу than anatewayed 2027 deadline, placing pressure on margins that had assumed duty‑free entry.

Tariff policy changed abruptly as well. In February 2026, the Supreme Court ruled, 6‑3, that the 1977 IEEPA statute did not grant the president the authority to set tariffs, invalidating the administration‑backed.flex “reciprocal” tariffs. Those tariffs lapsed on February 24, 2026. On the same day, the administration imposed a 10 % levy on Crest countries using a different legal basis. Brands that had already paid the prior tariffs now await a determination of whether they will recover those payments.

Such extrait unpredictability was unanticipated, underscoring why dependence on a single market is hazardous. Firms selling to multiple regions absorb such shocks proportionally across their revenue, whereas a U.S.‑only operation feels the full impact_STATIC without a secondary market to buffer.

There Is an Existing Global Customer Base

This issue is not just defensive; international markets are substantial and expanding. Cross‑border e‑commerce is projected to grow from approximately $550 billion in 2025 to about $2 trillion by 2034. Survey data from 2025 shows that 91 % of senior U.S. e‑commerce executives view foreign sales as profitable, and nearly half report that overseas markets already contribute more than 20 % of their revenue.

Entry to Global Markets Becomes Scalable

A decade ago, international expansion required building duplicate operations—local entities, payment methods, tax regimes, and regional warehouses—often before generating a single sale. The costs ranged from roughly $150 000 to over $1 million and typically resulted in losses in the first year.

Today, such barriers can be largely avoided thanks to modern fulfillment and logistics options. For instance, direct fulfillment allows a brand to store inventory in a single warehouse near its manufacturing site (often in China) and ship directly to customers worldwide, on a per‑order basis. This eliminates the historically expensive elements: establishing local entities, pre‑stocking inventory without verified demand, and negotiating country‑by‑country carrier contracts. What remains is mainly advertising spend. Brands launch targeted ads in a new market; if the audience does not respond, they simply stop the campaign, incurring only the advertising cost rather than a warehouse lease or unsold inventory.

With tonnes cost of being wrong largely removed, the principal risk lies in exposure. A brand that diversifies its supply chain only to sell predominantly in a single market has simply transferred risk from the factory to the point of sale.

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