By the early 1970s, Li & Fung's broker role was being squeezed by both manufacturers and importers, the rise of competing Asian Tiger economies as low-cost production locations and major Western retailers engaging directly with Asian suppliers. William and Victor Fung, the sons of Fung Hon-chu, returned from the US to work on modernizing the company. Starting in China and Asia, sources from countries closer to target markets were sought out: Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, for the US; Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia for Europe.