The golden age of hardware and electric tool development: foreign trade enterprises should assess the situation

        Domestic hardware tools are widely used in various fields such as geological exploration, stone materials, machinery, automotive, and defense industries. The manufacturing technology of abrasives for mechanical processing, geological drill bits, and stone sawing tools has been greatly improved. Products have been serialized and standardized, with complete varieties and specifications, and stable product quality. Some products have certain competitiveness in the international market.

        Electric tools serve the same purposes as pneumatic tools, and are even more convenient to use than pneumatic tools. They have advantages such as compact size, long lifespan, high safety, and energy efficiency. Currently, they are available in a wide range of varieties and specifications, including pneumatic chisels, gun drills, polishing machines, impact wrenches, and more.

        China's research and application of manufacturing and electric technology started relatively late, but have seen significant development over the past decade. Due to the characteristics of pneumatic tools, such as high quality, high speed, high output force, and high precision, electric technology has been rapidly promoted and applied in various industrial sectors, and has created remarkable economic benefits.

        The golden age of electric tool development

        China is a major producer and exporter of hardware tools. Among the electric tools sold globally, the vast majority are produced and exported from China, making it the world's leading supplier of electric tools. Despite the significant scale of China's hardware tool industry, many hardware tool manufacturers often lack core competitiveness and struggle to grow larger and stronger due to factors such as weak technological innovation capabilities, overly homogenous market structure, and limited brand influence.

        According to Luo Baihui, Secretary-General of the International Mold, Hardware, and Plastic Industry Suppliers Association, in China's domestic electric tool market, the sales volume of domestic electric tools accounts for 90% of the total sales, while various imported brand products only account for 10% of the market share. In the foreign electric tool market, the proportion of products made in China continues to expand, and China has become the global production base for electric tools. The domestic electric tool market is more stringent on the quality and brand of electric tools. Both electric tool dealers and end-user customers attach great importance to the quality and brand of electric tools. Therefore, the market is increasingly inclined towards high-quality and reputable electric tools. This is a sign of improvement, indicating that the electric tool market is becoming more mature.

        After the international economic recovery, hardware tools have ushered in a golden period of development in export markets, especially in developing countries. Due to the relative lag and overall aging of the machining industry in developing countries, there is a strong demand for imported hardware tools. Hardware product businesses have quickly seized this tremendous opportunity and, through trade agreements and exchanges, have gradually opened up a huge export market and trade business. Luo Baihui suggested that hardware foreign trade enterprises should assess the situation, take timely countermeasures, actively participate in international exhibitions, improve product quality, increase product innovation, vigorously develop low-carbon products according to the international economic situation, understand the EU directive standards for hardware product exports, and thereby launch the expansion of foreign markets and increase the international market share of China's hardware products.

        Foreign trade marketing strategy for electric tool enterprises:

        Improve technical proficiency

        To consolidate the currently occupied market and further cultivate and explore new markets, we will focus on the following aspects in the future: further improving product quality and accelerating the development of new products. In particular, we will prioritize the development of battery-powered electric tools and electronically controlled electric tools, continuously enhancing the level and product quality of electric tools.

        Production technology is evolving towards intensification, flexibility, automation, specialization, and a networked production collaboration system. We should gradually shift from the export mode of OEM production and neutral packaging to exporting our own branded products. While OEM production and neutral packaging have indeed played a significant role in rapidly expanding China's electric tool exports, this approach is not sustainable in the long run. It fails to establish the image of Chinese enterprises and create our own famous brands. Some of our manufacturing enterprises remain obscure processing factories, while middlemen reap huge profits. Furthermore, OEM production often harbors the potential for trademark infringement disputes. To promote the healthy development of China's electric tool foreign trade market and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of China's electric tool industry, we must strive to create our own famous brands and obtain due profits in product exports. We should comprehensively carry out safety certification and electromagnetic compatibility certification for electric tools, implement export licenses for electric tools, and continuously improve the quality and level of electric tools.

        Explore emerging markets

        Further study and grasp the trade practices of European and American power tools. While stabilizing and continuously expanding our country's market share of power tools in Western Europe and North America, actively explore new markets to achieve market diversification, with a particular focus on developing the African, Latin American, and Eastern European markets.

        Oppose low-price competition and regulate the export market. Apart from products from some foreign-funded enterprises, the electric tools exported by China in large quantities generally have relatively low prices. The main reason for this phenomenon is the low-price competition among export enterprises. Its harm is quite serious. Some state-owned enterprises, whose products are generally of superior quality, have been knocked out of the competition due to higher costs, while some products with poor or even inferior quality have been exported through low-price competition, thus causing adverse effects in the international market and damaging the image of Chinese products. Especially in the past two years, this phenomenon has extended from the foreign trade market to the domestic market, resulting in a comprehensive decline in the economic benefits of the entire industry. For the benefit of the nation, it is necessary to further regulate the market and advocate fair competition today, so that the foreign trade market of electric tools can truly thrive.