Trade Between the United States and China

Toolots, Inc. on track to successfully add 100 U.S. manufacturers to its network by year's end

CERRITOS, Calif. - January 12, 2017 - Toolots, Inc., a California-based provider of factory-direct industrial machinery, equipment, and technology, announced early this month their projection to add 100 new United States-based companies to their network to sell and export their products to Asia in 2017, with additional domestic distribution. Within the two weeks following Toolots’ announcement, the company has successfully signed up three new U.S. based companies, and currently are finalizing discussions to add another three companies within the next week. Toolots Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jason Fu said by adding 100 U.S. based companies to their network in 2017, Toolots would be one step closer to achieving their goal to foster better relations between the U.S. and China, bridging the gap between manufacturers on both sides of the Pacific.

Toolots' Headquarters in California.

Thus far in 2017, the manufacturing industry has seen an overall rising trend following reports of the industry expanding at its fastest rate since 2009 in December 2016; major automotive manufacturing companies like Fiat and Apple planning to build facilities in the U.S.; and U.S. Steel reopening a facility closed after previous industry decline. More recently, Jack Ma, founder and chairman of the international trade enterprise Alibaba Group, met with President-Elect Donald Trump to discuss plans to focus on U.S. job creation, market expansion, and strengthening U.S. and Chinese relations by signing one million U.S. based smaller businesses to sell on their site.

This concept is not unfamiliar to Toolots, as Fu expressed similar sentiments in May 2016 to Industrial Distribution.com and again a few months later during a July 2016 interview with Cutting Tool Engineering Magazine. Fu explained that Toolots Inc. and Toolots.com are two vital tools that can be used to foster international trade relations and global benefits for both the U.S. and China specifically within the manufacturing industry. Since its establishment in 2011, Fu’s vision has always been to use Toolots to "help streamline industrial commerce between the United States and China and build lasting relationships that lead to economic growth" for all involved.

Fu stated, "I have always wanted to use this company to increase domestic opportunity here in the U.S., to sustain and create new American jobs, and expand domestic manufacturing resources and profits in manufacturing. We do this through exporting products to manufacturing companies in China and East Asia who demand U.S. manufactured products and goods."

About Toolots

Toolots, headquartered in Cerritos, California, offers an online marketplace and international distribution channel for factory-direct industrial tools, machinery, and technology. The user-friendly platform provides fast, easy access to high-quality, affordable equipment to manufacturers. Toolots’ comprehensive services streamline the purchase, delivery, installation and warranty of industrial technology, machinery and components, and uphold the quality of important goods through a vetted network of vendors and service technicians. The company’s dedication to fostering international trade relations passes on cost savings to the consumer, contributes to reduced downtime, improves productivity and expands a manufacturer’s reach. Toolots has strategically located warehouses, showrooms, and offices across the United States and China. For more information about Toolots, visit their website at www.toolots.com.

Fu discusses Toolots' logistics and 2017 projections with ~30 investors in attendance.

CERRITOS, Calif. - January 7, 2017 - Toolots, Inc., a California-based provider of factory-direct industrial machinery, equipment, and technology hosted their first investor meeting for the 2017 quarter last weekend. Roughly 30 California based investors, with backgrounds ranging from finance to science and technology, attended the event to discover more about Toolots’ unique e-commerce marketplace.

Jason Fu, founder and CEO of Toolots,Inc., began the event by discussing Toolots’ evolution and expansion with attending investors since the company’s creation in 2011. During his presentation, Fu outlined Toolots’ goal to achieve lasting economic growth for the U.S. and China by building strong relationships and streamlining industrial commerce. He concluded by sharing the launch of Toolots’ new Global Commerce Services initiative, including their projection to expand their current manufacturing network by at least 100 companies in 2017.

Hermann Liu of Andra Capital gives presentation discussing the qualities of beneficial investments.

Hermann Liu, Managing Partner at Andra Capital, stated that the “quality of the entrepreneur [Jason] and the business is what sets Toolots apart and makes their success” following his presentation discussing the necessary steps companies must take to “cross the chasm”. Liu cited Jason Fu’s resilience and execution as two of the CFO’s best qualities and critical to the company’s successful expansion and operation thus far. “Jason has a vision and is not driven by finances”, Liu said and continued by explaining “he genuinely wants to do good and better both the U.S. and China.” Liu also stated Toolots is unique as Amazon and Alibaba can’t immediately compete with Toolots due to the fact that they lack the necessary presence respectively within the U.S. and China.

“I have seen first hand the way he interacts with his investors, his employees, and vendors, and it’s very admirable and genuine” Liu concluded.

About Toolots

Toolots, headquartered in Cerritos, California, offers an online marketplace and international distribution channel for factory-direct industrial tools, machinery, and technology. The user-friendly platform provides fast, easy access to high-quality, affordable equipment to manufacturers. Toolots’ comprehensive services streamline the purchase, delivery, installation and warranty of industrial technology, machinery and components, and uphold the quality of important goods through a vetted network of vendors and service technicians. The company’s dedication to fostering international trade relations passes on cost savings to the consumer, contributes to reduced downtime, improves productivity and expands a manufacturer’s reach. Toolots has strategically located warehouses, showrooms, and offices across the United States, as well as in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. For more information about Toolots, visit their website.

For more information or questions, contact Samantha Hyatt, Toolots' Director of Public Affairs, at shyatt@toolots.com or 1 (844) 866-5687.                                                                                                                ###

Toolots’ current projection for 2017 includes the addition of 100 new U.S. based companies to their network to sell and export their products to Asia

CERRITOS, Calif. - January 3, 2017 - Toolots, Inc., a California-based provider of factory-direct industrial machinery, equipment, and technology, is starting the new year with plans to induct 100 U.S. based manufacturing companies join their network. Expansion of Toolots’ industrial online marketplace will double their product offerings from four lines to at least eight in the first few months of 2017. Furthermore, Toolots’ industry products within their marketplace will see an expansion in green energy, medical research and equipment, automation, material handling, and food production categories.

Toolots’ announcement comes during a global shift in the political climate within which the U.S. is focused on profitability from exporting goods to countries, like China, who are eager to import quality products. This change allows U.S. companies to expand domestic resources and jobs to match the demand for imported goods in foreign markets.

Jason Fu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Toolots Inc., stated Toolots’ aim has always focused on “fostering international trade relations amongst businesses and by adding 100 U.S. based companies to our network we increase domestic opportunity by creating jobs here in the U.S. and by expanding domestic manufacturing resources and profits through product exportation.”

One contributing factor to the success of Toolots’ plan is their upcoming role as the organizers for a June 2017 conference in Ningbo, China. The US-China Medical Device Summit will include two days of panels and networking for major U.S. and Chinese players in the industry, followed by a third day for tours of the manufacturing industrial parks. Fu stated success would be accomplished through the culmination of the company’s “hard work and efforts.”

Toolots’ announcement follows the launch of their companion smartphone app YuuTool in December 2016, the completion of their inaugural Manufacturing Summit hosted locally in Cerritos, CA August 2016, and their expansion to a larger facility this past July 2016.

About Toolots

Toolots, headquartered in Cerritos, California, offers an online marketplace and international distribution channel for factory-direct industrial tools, machinery, and technology. The user-friendly platform provides fast, easy access to high-quality, affordable equipment to manufacturers. Toolots’ comprehensive services streamline the purchase, delivery, installation and warranty of industrial technology, machinery and components, and uphold the quality of important goods through a vetted network of vendors and service technicians. The company’s dedication to fostering international trade relations passes on cost savings to the consumer, contributes to reduced downtime, improves productivity and expands a manufacturer’s reach. Toolots has strategically located warehouses, showrooms, and offices across the United States and China. For more information about Toolots, visit their website.

Toolots Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit brings together key individuals from the U.S. and China for open, honest and productive dialogues

CERRITOS, Calif. – Aug. 29, 2016 – Monday was the first of the three-day Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit, involving key discussions between industry, government and thought leaders from both the United States and China. The Summit was hosted at Toolots, Inc. headquarters in Cerritos, California, and served as a bridge to connect leaders in both countries through open, honest and productive dialogues.

The panel on Protecting Intellectual Property included Bill Mongelluzzo, senior editor of the Journal of Commerce; Vice-Mayor of Yuyao, China, Han Baishun; Frank Cullen Jr. with the GIPC; Gu Liquin, deputy chief of the Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone; Jason Yu and Jonathan Jaech, partners and attorneys at law with Los Angeles-based Snell & Wilmer

The first topic addressed was intellectual property protections, and ways manufacturers can ensure their innovative technologies remain out of the hands of counterfeiters or those who seek to illegally replicate the products through patent or trademark infringement. Crediting the strides China has made in recent years was Frank Cullen Jr., executive director of intellectual property policy with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC), who pointed to China’s rising through the ranks of the GIPC’s Global Intellectual Property Index. It analyzes the strength of intellectual property (IP) laws in trading countries around the world, enforcement efforts and other considerations.

Cullen recognized recent enforcement actions by Chinese authorities to stifle the proliferation of counterfeit products from not only trade ports and factory floors, but also the online stores where illegitimate products are sold in the first place. Preserving brand integrity and protecting innovation are protected is critical to IP worldwide, he said.

“Great progress has been made and I’m seeing openness relating to intellectual property, but there is still room for improvement” Cullen said, describing the increased attention Chinese authorities are paying to illegal efforts by counterfeiters and increased domestic enforcement efforts against others who seek to tilt the playing field. “You know, the U.S. used to be a leader in enforcement (based on the Global IP Index). We’re No. 5. So we need to do a little bit of a better job ourselves, and certainly improvement can go around.”

Vice Mayor of Yuyao, China, Han Baishun, also acknowledged a shared responsibility to protect intellectual property originating from international businesses. He added that there is an intellectual property protection association based in China that investigates and follows up on related complaints, in addition to a wide range of government agencies that do the same.

“We need to be the ones protecting intellectual property, not just you,” Baishun said, addressing U.S. leaders also involved in the panel discussion. “We need to include everybody (in these dialogues), follow statewide law and have overarching laws around our country. It’s important to pay attention to the international points of view; we can learn from the others.”

Chinese government officials report complaints of intellectual property theft to enforcement hubs in Beijing and other key areas, Baishun explained.

Deputy Chief Gu Liquin of the Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, a Chinese governmental organization, added, “I believe that to protect intellectual property is to protect our collective future.”

He pointed to an example in December where a Chinese company was discovered to have violated existing trademarks. “We asked them to remove the products immediately,” Liquin said. “We do and we will always try our best to protect intellectual property rights.”

The country’s circuit court provides individuals and corporations with a “comprehensive process that provides you with the rights you should have,” Liquin said.

The discussion was moderated by veteran journalist Bill Mongelluzzo, senior editor of the Journal of Commerce, which provides leading coverage of trade and transportation around the world.

Attorneys Jason Yu and Jonathan Jaech, partners with Los Angeles-based Snell & Wilmer, contributed their expertise on intellectual property and patent law, describing how the legal process differs in China and the United States. Generally speaking, it costs less to file a lawsuit compared to the United States, and the process is much quicker.

Yu said the average lawsuit in the state of California takes about 20 to 24 months from start to finish, while the process can take only a matter of weeks in China and fees are much lower. However, lawsuits in the U.S. allow for greater discovery to take place, a legal term to describe the process where evidence is shared between the prosecution and the defense.

“I’m where the rubber meets the road, as a litigator,” Yu said, adding that patents are of great value in protecting intellectual property beforehand. Yu and Jaech explained that patents are a critical piece of the intellectual property puzzle, whether that is in the United States, China or in both countries.

If a patent is worth money in the United States, Jaech said it is also worth money in China and worth investigating to add a new layer of infringement protections.

Vice Mayor Baishun elaborated, stating that there are no regional differences between patents across all of China. If it is valid in one Chinese province, it is valid statewide, according to Baishun.

Describing what could help drive increased foreign investments into the Chinese marketplace, Cullen with the U.S. Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center said removing the uncertainty some companies have is essential.

“When you have IP systems that are strong and create protections for companies, you will see a direct link to investment. Access to capital comes when you (companies) say, ‘I’m able to secure this product in the marketplace,’” he said.

Following the panel, founder and chief executive officer of Toolots, Jason Fu, remarked, “I’ve learned a lot through these discussions and speeches given by our distinguished guests.”

Fu described how he came to the United States as a Chinese immigrant in the 1990s, dreaming of coming to the country and starting a business since he was young. The successful business owner has owned and operating a wide range of companies throughout his career, but said it all came together when he created an online marketplace for industrial tools through the Bolton Group shortly after emigrating from China. Capitalizing on the Internet as a sales platform early on, Fu said the introduction of Google AdWords was “revolutionary” in helping connect directly with customers in need of equipment.

“We are feeling the magic of the Internet, and its power,” Fu said of Toolots, a company he launched to provide industrial machinery from A to Z all around the world, similar to Amazon’s online marketplace where consumers are directly connected with manufacturers. Toolots is headquartered in Cerritos, California, and has locations in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Houston, Texas.

The Toolots Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit will continue through Aug. 31, 2016.

Summit in Cerritos, California, Aug. 29-31, 2016, will explain how to navigate the complexities of international trade and simplify global commerce

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. – May 18, 2016 – Toolots, Inc., a company that provides a factory-direct e-commerce platform for international manufacturers to easily and affordably purchase and sell industrial tools, machinery and technology, announces its Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit. The event will be held at its headquarters in Cerritos, California, Aug. 29-31, 2016. Designed to promote international trade between the United States and China, the Summit will delve into key topics for navigating the complex logistical and administrative requirements of international commerce.

Jason Fu, founder and CEO, Toolots, said, “U.S. manufacturers that want to sell their equipment overseas are often discouraged by the complexities of international trade. Plus, many do not have the resources to spend on marketing their products overseas or the ability to provide after-sale service to customers. The goal of this Summit is to help these manufacturers better understand how they can effectively sell their equipment to the Chinese manufacturing market.”

At the Manufacturing Exchange Summit, Toolots is gathering the key players necessary to help facilitate international relations among U.S. and Chinese manufacturers. From a Chinese delegation responsible for global commerce to American manufacturers that have achieved success by streamlining distribution channels, discussions will cover a number of international trade topics, including:

Protecting intellectual property Managing import and export logistics Handling currency exchange Navigating customs Marketing products overseas

Attendees will have an opportunity to meet and network with leading experts in international trade, U.S.-based manufacturers and manufacturing association representatives. For more information or to attend, contact Toolots via email at summit@toolots.com or visit www.toolots.com/summit2016.

Media interested in attending the summit should contact Heather Andrews at handrews@dprgroup.com or 240-686-1000.