Companies like Alibaba that built China’s world-leading online shopping sector are now helping its sellers find markets beyond the United States.

China's factory activity likely contracted in April, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday, as Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" package of tariffs brought a sudden halt to two months of recovery.

Small businesses will have no choice but to raise prices, cut staff, delay growth plans or shut down entirely just to keep up with the rising costs of imports they can’t source domestically, one expert said.