China still a key market, US businesses say, but hope dims for improved prospects

Name: US-China relations depend on strong economic ties, says US commerce chief during talks in Beijing
Uploaded: 2023-09-26T16:45:58.000Z
Duration: 3 min 3 s
Description: US-China relations depend on strong economic ties, says US commerce chief during talks in Beijing

US-China tensions create negative ripple effects for American firms, including lost sales and disrupted supply chains, according to annual survey’s results

The US-China Business Council, which conducted the survey, has more than 270 members, including powerful companies like Amazon and Nike

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Nike is one of the more than 270 members of the US-China Business Council. Photo: Bloomberg

Bochen Hanin Washington

Published: 12:45am, 27 Sep 2023

US companies’ optimism about their business prospects in China is at a record low level for the second straight year, but China remains a top-five priority market for 74 per cent of companies, a new survey shows.

The US-China Business Council’s annual survey also found US-China tensions to be the biggest challenge American businesses faced when operating in the country last year, replacing “Covid-19 shutdowns” from last year’s survey.

Of the 117 respondents, 84 per cent said they saw negative effects on their businesses, including delayed investment, lost sales and disrupted supply chains.

“The future will be determined by the policy choices taken by both governments,” USCBC President Craig Allen said on Tuesday as the survey results were released.

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US-China relations depend on strong economic ties, says US commerce chief during talks in Beijing

Different industries were feeling different pressures from both sides, Allen added, with sectors like food, energy and consumer goods “going very well” and the technology sector “being quite a bit more complex”, noting that the survey data was not disaggregated by industry.

The USCBC counts 276 members in its ranks, including influential companies like Nike and Amazon. The survey was carried out between June and July, and closed in early July before the two governments stepped up their economic diplomacy.