US firms less keen to make China’s case because of Beijing’s failures to live up to its promises, American Chamber of Commerce warns

American businesses in China can no longer be relied upon as “positive anchor” in relations between the two countries after years of unfulfilled commitments, a report has warned.

The American Chamber of Commerce in China said on Wednesday in its newly published white paper on China’s business climate that restoring trust will be critical to overcome problems such as long-standing complaints about market access and the discriminatory barriers faced by foreign firms.

“As foreign companies have seen their prospects in certain industries narrowed because of China’s own goals for Chinese companies to take a certain market share in domestic markets, they have felt less enthusiastic about the opportunity to invest here,” Tim Stratford, chairman of the group and a former official at the US Trade Representative’s office (USTR), said.

“It doesn’t look as promising an opportunity as it did in the past, and therefore, they naturally felt less enthusiastic about working hard to try to advocate on some issues related to the US-China relationship.”

The AmCham report included recommendations on the further removal of market barriers for foreign investors, greater regulatory transparency, greater intellectual property protections and fair treatment of foreign and domestic companies – all of which are among the key issues at the heart of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington.

“If any of these recommendations sound new to you, I would be very surprised,” Stratford added, noting China had long agreed to further open up its economy and tackle US companies’ concerns, but often failed to follow through.