Member Survey 2026

The US-China commercial relationship has continued to evolve since USCBC’s last member survey. The United States and China are now in a trade truce set to expire in November, but their commercial and technological competition continues unabated. Across 175 responses to our 2026 Member Survey, the following four lessons emerged.

Key findings

For US companies, China is not optional. A generation of sophisticated, pressure-tested Chinese companies is going global. These competitors are advantaged by factors unique to China, including scale, local innovation networks, and speed to market. For a resounding 95% of respondents, China operations are somewhat to very important for staying competitive globally. The reasons vary by sector and industry but include US companies applying lessons learned in China to other markets, gaining insight into future competitors, and funding global expansion through profits earned in the country.

Tariffs continue to raise costs, boost inflation, and depress sales, exports, and profits. Despite the detente, the number of companies affected by tariffs (72%) has risen over the last year, and the proportion of companies losing sales due to US and Chinese tariffs has spiked. Companies are only able to absorb some of these costs internally, and 42% are passing some costs downstream. The trade deficit with China may have narrowed, but it has not reinvigorated US manufacturing.

Export controls and investment restrictions are reshaping US business operations in China. Around 40% of companies report negative effects from US export control policies, with many experiencing lost sales, severed customer relationships, and reputational damage in China due to the intensifying perception that US firms are unreliable suppliers.

US export controls are not calibrated to empower American companies. While intended to restrict access to critical technologies and inputs, export controls are less effective when Chinese or foreign competitors can readily backfill. Survey data show a growing share of companies reporting lost sales, which is raising alarm bells about US competitiveness. At the same time, China’s expanding export controls and counter-sanctions regime are compounding these pressures.

American companies need signs that they are still welcome in China. China’s business environment for foreign companies is not improving. The country’s support for domestic companies, including through industrial policy and preferential treatment in government procurement, is eroding the gains from formal market access openings. Just half of companies plan to invest in China this year.