Potential TikTok ban threatens the US business of China’s cross-border sellers and the global ambitions of ByteDance
- In the face of a potential ban of TikTok in the US, Chinese merchants selling on the platform are preparing for the worst
- Leaving the US, a global trendsetter and major source of viral content, would be far more devastating to TikTok than exiting other markets like India
Luo Ziyan, who goes by the online name Daxiang and runs several profitable stores on TikTok for the e-commerce company Uebezz, is the envy of her fellow merchants in Yiwu, an export hub south of Shanghai.
The cross-border sales manager was among the first to use the globally popular short-video app to promote household goods to consumers in the United States and Southeast Asia, and her advice has been highly sought after by others hoping to replicate her success.
Luo said she was not quite sure how to answer. “If there hadn’t been this [bill], I would definitely recommend them to do so in the US,” she said, adding that her business in the US is “certainly more profitable” than those in other markets.
Other cross-border merchants interviewed by the South China Morning Post are more certain. “It’s not the time for newcomers to enter the US,” said Hong Ming, co-founder of the Shenzhen-based TikTok Seller Alliance.