Today, USCBC submitted comments to the Bureau of Industry Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce regarding proposed rules on military, military support, intelligence, and foreign security end users. USCBC is supportive of efforts to protect national security, but the Council is concerned that these rules will harm trade in many non-sensitive sectors and potentially result in commercial decoupling with China.
China Market Intelligence
Top Stories
October 11th, 2024
October 9th, 2024
At a tech conference last month, Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Jin Zhuanglong praised the advancement of China’s domestically-developed software, AI, and associated technologies. He promised to expand government support for the ecosystem as part of China’s xinchuang—or innovation technology application innovation (ITAI)—initiative. Xinchuang refers to a loosely coordinated set of programs aimed at replacing foreign-made IT products with domestic alternatives by 2027...
October 9th, 2024
US and Chinese officials convened in early September in Tianjin, China for the second US-China Commercial Issues Working Group (CIWG), marking another step in the iterative process of addressing commercial concerns between the two countries. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago led the US delegation to China through a series of meetings focused on policy and regulatory issues affecting USCBC member companies that conduct business with China.
October 9th, 2024
As tariffs and other trade restrictions between the United States and China continue to rise, US policymakers are flagging a related trend: an increased manufacturing presence of Chinese firms in third countries—particularly in Mexico and Vietnam. Some accuse these firms of deliberate “country hopping” to skirt US tariffs on imports from China and enter the US market at lower tariff rates. With new Section 301 tariffs implemented last month and both presidential tickets doubling down on...
October 1st, 2024
China’s growth has continued to stagnate this year as it grapples with a protracted real estate downturn, local government debt, and record youth unemployment, which have all resulted in an acute crisis of confidence. Chinese consumers, who were already inclined to save and now face poor job prospects and falling wages, have become even more cautious with spending. In an effort to offset the property slump, Beijing has expanded investments in manufacturing and increased exports. The...
September 25th, 2024
Accessing China’s vast public procurement market continues to be difficult for US companies. Procurement issues appeared in this year’s list of top 10 challenges for USCBC members for only the third time in our survey’s history. While few companies report new policies preventing access, the rise of informal barriers combined with the effects of geopolitical tensions with the United States and China’s broader economic slowdown appear to be inhibiting the ability of American companies to gain...
September 25th, 2024
Six months after China’s internet regulator published new rules on data flows, cross-border data transfer (CBDT) remains a top challenge for US companies operating in the country. Sector-specific issues and the introduction of free-trade zone CBDT rules are presenting new challenges to companies even as national-level compliance burdens have eased. As a result, the relaxation has been uneven and can be better described as an evolution of compliance challenges rather than universal relief....
September 25th, 2024
The impending presidential and congressional transition in the United States is prompting American policymakers to push for final approval on long-debated tariff policies, in part in an effort to win voters. The initiatives in question—the final Section 301 determination, new de minimis rule, and ongoing debate over China’s trade status with the United States—are all in different stages but stem from similar motives. And regardless of the election results, strategies like these to tighten...
September 13th, 2024
US-China trade continued to decline in the first half of 2024, reaching 2.3 percent year-over-year after both US exports to and imports from China contracted. That said, this is the slowest contraction in overall US-China trade since the second half of 2022. The relatively slower contraction occurred amid a return to growth for US-worldwide trade, which increased 2.7 percent, and reflects increases in consumer spending and inventory growth in the United States and stronger industrial output...
September 11th, 2024
China is hoping to replicate Silicon Valley-style innovation through its policy support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Several initiatives released this past summer by government ministries provide investment incentives and low-cost financing for qualified domestic companies that innovate new technologies. These initiatives target all kinds of companies, from startups to “little giants,” with the goal of boosting innovation and securing China’s domestic supply chains....
