According to www.qima.com, global supply chains avoided the worst-case disruption scenarios in 2025 despite US–China trade tensions, tariff shocks, and shifting buyer demand — with inspection and audit data revealing record diversification, major regional sourcing shifts across Asia Pacific and the Mediterranean, and accelerating South–South trade links.
Resilience Amid Volatility
QIMA’s 2025 data shows that buyers and suppliers actively diversified networks to reduce risk, a trend expected to continue into 2026. The broader trade outlook remains fragile, prompting accelerated diversification strategies focused on resilience amid growing volatility.
Sourcing Concentration Declined Sharply
- For North American buyers, the combined share of the top three supplier countries — China, India, and Vietnam — fell from 61% to 54% in a single year.
- Western European brands saw the top three suppliers — China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh — account for 70% of inspections and audits in 2025, down from 77% in 2021.
- Reduced business with China drove both declines, but redirected volumes increasingly landed outside second- and third-tier supplier markets.
China’s Export Market Shifts Southward
Chinese exporters intensified diversification efforts in 2025, building stronger ties with developing markets and advanced economies outside the US. While US demand for inspections and audits in China fell −18% YoY in 2025, South and Latin American clients’ share of inspections and audits in China rose to 30%, while North American and Western European clients together made up less than half.
US Procurement Leaned on Asia-Pacific Alternatives
US inspection and audit demand grew +9% YoY in 2025 overall, despite front-loading ahead of tariff hikes and subsequent troughs. Demand surged across Southeast Asia (+42% YoY) and South Asia (+14% YoY), while China demand declined −18% YoY. Nearshoring and reshoring rose only slightly — to 7.6% in 2025 from 7.1% in 2024 — though domestic US inspection demand rose every quarter, suggesting limited-scale reshoring will feature in 2026 strategies.
European Buyers Balanced Regional & Overseas Partnerships
European procurement activity varied by market: strong in the Netherlands, Spain, and Austria; more muted in the UK, France, and Germany. Inspection demand growth was fastest in Southeast Asian hubs — Vietnam (+12% YoY), Thailand (+23% YoY), and Cambodia (+6% YoY). Nearshoring and reshoring reached a record 14% of EU sourcing in 2025, with the Mediterranean region growing +25% YoY. Egypt (+52%), Morocco (+38%), and Tunisia (+18%) outperformed Turkey, which faced rising costs and labor shortages.
Non-US Western Buyers Maintained China Engagement
Despite US-China tensions, many European brands continued relying on China for textiles and apparel, with notable Q4 increases from Italy, Spain, Austria, the UK, and the Netherlands. Inspection demand also grew in Canada (+9% YoY), Australia (+2% YoY), and New Zealand (+38% YoY).
Source: www.qima.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
