Recently, with the United States imposing high tariffs on imported Chinese goods, Chinese factories and businesses have turned to social platforms like TikTok to directly sell products to American consumers, attempting to bypass traditional retail channels and tariff barriers. These videos often claim that the products come from “factory direct sales,” with prices much lower than authentic products. Some analysts question whether the Chinese government is passively weakening the protection of intellectual property rights.
Due to the impact of the tariff war on Chinese exporters to the United States, they have resorted to selling goods through social media platforms like TikTok. On the TikTok account “@chinesefactorybuyer,” there is a vague mention of products originating from factories with insinuated hints like “semi-finished products from a factory in xx province.” Although the brand name is not explicitly mentioned in spoken language, the title bluntly displays the name “Chanel OEM,” along with Chinese and English subtitles, claiming to have purchased hundreds of batches of semi-finished products directly. “Why can they come out? The factories have closed down, and xx brand doesn’t want these goods anymore. I can’t help but drool when I see them, even the small accessories are all included. There are also some secret things, original packaging… a complete set.”
As more and more TikTok short videos claiming to be “direct sales from Chinese factories” are circulated, more consumers are attracted and guided to cross-border platforms such as Temu and DHgate, searching for these goods purportedly coming directly from top brand “factory sources.”
Radio Free Asia reported that Professor Jiang Yaqi from the School of Law and Politics at Taiwan Ocean University, specializing in technology and intellectual property laws, pointed out that while some goods on cross-border platforms may indeed come from factories commissioned by international brands, they are often still bound by confidentiality agreements or other contract terms. “True manufacturing plants, due to legal risks, usually do not promote themselves prominently. On the contrary, counterfeit manufacturers tend to advertise extensively, leading to a situation of mixed genuine and fake products in the market.”
She believes that platforms have a responsibility to strengthen content review and management. Complaints and lawsuits by American consumers serve a purpose in highlighting the severity of the issue. However, for platforms like DHgate headquartered in China, holding them accountable amid the current atmosphere of “politically correctness” in the tariff trade war poses challenges, making legal actions difficult to proceed.
“Which e-commerce platform in mainland China is not selling counterfeit goods?” Wang Guochen, a research assistant from the First Research Institute of the China Institute of Economic Research, expressed concerns. The WeChat official account “Niudan Qin” with an official Chinese Communist Party background proposed six countermeasures against the United States after the tariff war. Among them are measures like stopping the import of U.S. agricultural products and suspending the import of U.S. films, which Beijing has begun taking action on. Point 4 mentions the high trade deficit in services between the U.S. and China. Wang stated, “This implies that China will weaken its emphasis on intellectual property rights protection, which means China refuses to enhance the protection of intellectual property rights and patents. If the Chinese government sets this example, counterfeit issues will worsen. Coupled with the severe internal competition among mainland Chinese companies, illegal activities may become even more rampant.”
Wang believes that when American consumers file lawsuits overseas, they often can only demand the removal of infringing products, making it difficult to effectively penalize infringement. Genuine enterprises are often at a disadvantage, as seen in cases like the Japanese brand Muji, where counterfeit versions have even won lawsuits against the authentic brand, highlighting the protection provided by the Chinese government for such activities.
A Taiwanese businessman Mr. Hao (requesting anonymity) in mainland China stated that in the past, the United States exempted small-scale trade transactions under $800 from tariffs, prompting a large number of consumers to purchase through e-commerce platforms. After the U.S. imposed high tariffs on Chinese products, although some consumers still find the prices attractive even with the tariff increases, the overall demand has decreased. “Some small commodity manufacturers in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces have reported that current order volumes have decreased by about three to four times compared to pre-tariff levels.”
Based on his experience, he believes that operations in the U.S. market are currently challenging due to increased surveillance and strict regulations.