On September 16, 2025 (local time), the International Fastener Expo grandly kicked off at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The CFM team attended the expo with the latest Issue 43 of CFM, which was officially released on-site and attracted the attention of numerous international buyers and industry partners. The CFM booth was abuzz with lively exchanges, emerging as a major highlight of the event.

In the global landscape of the fastener industry, the International Fastener Expo, Fastener Fair Global, and Fastener Expo Shanghai (June 24-26, 2026) are known as the three major expositions worldwide for the fastener sector.

As one of the largest and most important fastener exhibitions in North America, this year's International Fastener Expo featured exhibitors mainly from the United States, while also bringing together exhibition groups from multiple countries including China, India, and Turkey. Among them, there were approximately over 70 exhibitors from mainland China and around 60 from Taiwan, China, fully demonstrating the diverse cooperation and close connections within the global fastener industry chain. The exhibits covered various types of fasteners, processing equipment, hardware tools, and spare parts. Both in terms of the professionalism of the exhibits and the quality of the visitors, the expo reflected high-level industry characteristics and international influence.

According to relevant statistics, from January to July 2025, the total import volume of fasteners in the United States reached approximately 1 billion kilograms, with a total import value of about USD 3.96 billion, indicating that the market demand remains strong. However, starting from March 2025, the United States has imposed a 70% tariff on all bolts imported from China and a 52.5% tariff on all nuts imported from China. This has led to a significant increase in the cost of fasteners exported from China to the United States, seriously undermining their price competitiveness. As a result, many enterprises may be forced to reduce their presence in or even withdraw from the U.S. market.

Table 1: U.S. Fastener Import Data from January to July 2025

Faced with this situation, Chinese fastener enterprises are actively adopting a variety of strategies to respond. In the short term, these strategies include negotiating with U.S. importers to share tariff costs and exploring the possibility of third-country transshipment trade. In the medium and long term, enterprises urgently need to promote market diversification by exploring emerging markets such as Europe, Southeast Asia, and countries along the "Belt and Road" Initiative. Meanwhile, they should accelerate the transformation toward high-value-added fastener products used in sectors like new energy vehicles, wind power, and aerospace. Additionally, they need to further leverage China's massive demand for infrastructure construction. Through these efforts, enterprises aim to reduce their reliance on a single market and build a more risk-resilient business structure.