One American’s Two-Year Quest to Move His Business Out of China
For Ryan Bursky, the thunderclap of President Trump’s first-term tariffs wasn’t just a headline; it was a seismic jolt that ripped through the core of his business. For years, like countless American entrepreneurs, his company had relied on the efficiency and scale of Chinese manufacturing. But when those tariffs hit, what had once been a smooth, cost-effective operation suddenly became a minefield of unpredictable costs and strategic vulnerabilities. It was, as he puts it, a definitive "wake-up call."
That initial shock quickly morphed into a two-year, incredibly complex mission: to systematically disentangle his supply chain from China and relocate it entirely. What’s perhaps most fascinating about Bursky’s journey isn't just the decision itself, but how he’s executing it. Rather than severing ties, he’s working hand-in-glove with his long-standing Chinese suppliers to move his entire production — lock, stock, and barrel — to Cambodia.
This isn't a simple case of finding a new factory. This is about replicating an entire operational ecosystem, from raw material sourcing to final assembly, in a new country with different regulations, different labor pools, and vastly different infrastructure. Bursky’s company, which manufactures specialized consumer goods, suddenly found itself navigating a geopolitical chessboard where tariffs were just one piece of a much larger, more volatile game. The sheer cost implications of those tariffs made it clear that a long-term strategy needed to be more robust than simply absorbing higher prices.
The initial analysis was sobering. While the immediate instinct for many in his position might have been to explore options like Vietnam or India, Bursky and his team spent months on deep dives, looking at everything from labor costs and logistics networks to political stability and existing industrial clusters. Cambodia emerged as a compelling, albeit unconventional, choice. Its growing manufacturing base, favorable trade agreements, and a relatively stable political environment offered a fresh start. Crucially, it also presented an opportunity to leverage existing relationships in a way that truly sets this relocation apart.
What's more interesting is the active participation of his Chinese partners. This isn't a reluctant compliance; it’s a strategic pivot. These suppliers, themselves astute observers of global trade dynamics, recognized the long-term imperative for their American clients to diversify beyond China. For them, it's about retaining business and evolving with their key customers. They’ve been instrumental in helping Bursky’s team identify suitable factory sites in Cambodia, navigate local regulations, and even transfer some of their own operational knowledge to the new setup. It's a pragmatic, forward-looking partnership, born out of necessity, but built on years of trust.
The shift hasn't been without its monumental challenges. Logistics, for instance, are significantly more complex. Building out new supply routes, establishing quality control protocols from scratch, and training a new workforce—all while maintaining existing production levels as much as possible—requires an immense amount of operational dexterity. Bursky describes it as "building the plane while flying it." There are endless negotiations over Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) in new factories, intricate discussions around customs clearance, and the subtle art of adapting production processes to a different cultural and regulatory environment. It’s a multi-layered project that demands relentless attention to detail and a willingness to roll with the punches.
This story, though specific to Ryan Bursky, is a microcosm of a much larger trend reshaping global supply chains. The days of single-source dependency on China are, for many, drawing to a close. Companies are now actively pursuing a "China + 1" or even "China + 2" strategy, de-risking their operations by spreading manufacturing across multiple geographies. While the initial impetus for many was indeed geopolitical tension and tariffs, the pandemic further accelerated this push, exposing the fragility of highly concentrated supply chains. Bursky's two-year quest underscores that this is a marathon, not a sprint, demanding significant investment of time, capital, and strategic foresight. And for many, the journey has only just begun.
