The twenty‑five‑percent Section 301 surcharge now adds an average fourteen‑cent premium to every China‑built control board; our margin model drops from 6.2 to –1.4 percent at that level. Factories in Guangdong report inventory‐to‐shipments ratios above 1.8, their credit lines thinning as finished goods pile up. Buyers are therefore awarding trial lots to Vietnam and India, where combined duty plus VAT sits near ten percent and quoted lead‑time drift is nine days. Cash discount requests of three to five percent are surfacing daily, yet many suppliers still stare at insolvency. Quick Notes: dual‑base sourcing cushions political shocks within one season.