Beijing-Washington tensions worry American companies. China and the United States are engaged under the former presidency of Donald Trump in a commercial and technological showdown whose effects on the world economy and investor confidence are being felt severely. This trade war has resulted since 2018 in reciprocal customs surcharges involving hundreds of billions of dollars in annual trade.
Last year was marked by a “continuous deterioration” of relations between Beijing and Washington “in virtually all aspects,” said the American Chamber of Commerce in China. And the coronavirus pandemic has only “reinforced mistrust” between the two powers, she judges in a report on the business environment in the Asian country.
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According to the results of a House poll of its members, 78% of respondents say that the “rising tensions” between China and the United States are their main concern today. This subject now supersedes by far and for the first time the rise in production costs in China (40%). The relative opacity of local regulations comes in third place (37%). Chinese competition is the fourth concern of American entrepreneurs – this point only came in 10th place a year earlier.
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Paradoxically, respect for intellectual property in China, one of Washington’s requirements, has “considerably improved”, Lester Ross, a House official, noted at a press conference. But “that does not mean that all the problems have been solved”, he qualified.
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Many American companies manufacture products in China which they then export around the world. Despite the tensions, 85% of American companies surveyed do not plan to leave the Chinese market or relocate their production. This figure is in line with previous years. The report was produced at the end of 2020, when tensions between the two countries stalled. The American Chamber of Commerce in China has 4,000 members from 900 companies.
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