Gala 2024
Pandemic and Politics Aside, US-China Trade Ties Continue—For Now
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact in Washington, DC:
Doug Barry ([email protected]; 202-429-0340)
Contact in Beijing:
Lipei Zhang ([email protected]; 86-10-6512-5854)
WASHINGTON, August 11, 2020 – Despite an unprecedented downturn in US-China relations during a pandemic, US businesses are not leaving the China market. This was a major finding of an annual survey of members released today by the US-China Business Council (USCBC), a trade group representing more than 200 businesses, many of them global brands with decades of China experience.
Projections about the five-year business outlook in China at first seem bullish, with nearly 70 percent expressing optimism about the commercial prospects of the market, and 87 percent of companies reporting that they have no plans to shift production out of China. But those numbers belie a trend of progressively diminishing optimism in the short- to medium-term prospects of the China market.
One quarter of USCBC member companies have reduced or stopped planned investment in China in the last year. The top reasons were increased costs or uncertainties from US-China tensions and uncertainty stemming from COVID-19. Competition, intellectual property rights enforcement, and data flows also ranked among the top challenges that companies face in the China market.
“US-China trade and investment supports about 2.6 million American jobs,” noted USCBC President Craig Allen. “We need to sustain and grow those jobs in future years, while finding ways to reduce conflict in other areas of the relationship.”
Full implementation of the Phase One trade agreement is one way to restore confidence—88 percent of respondents have a positive or somewhat positive view of the agreement, namely because it put a lid on escalating tariffs and added an element of stability to the bilateral relationship.
Still, a 56-percent majority believe it is too soon to say whether the benefits of the trade agreement outweigh the costs of tariffs or vice versa.
“Companies are now seeing the fruits of the agreement, particularly the market openings,” said Allen. “Phase One must be a success if we are to deepen trade negotiations and work toward a Phase Two. As our survey shows us, there is more work to be done.”
Read the Full Report
This year’s report is available in English and Chinese.
中美经贸关系在疫情和政治因素之下仍可期
尽管由于疫情原因中美关系急转直下，在华运营的美国企业并没有离开中国市场。这是美中贸易全国委员会（USCBC）今天发布的年度会员调查的主要结论。美中贸易全国委员会拥有200多家会员企业，其中很多是在华经营数十年的知名跨国公司。
企业对中国未来五年商业展望看上去仍比较乐观，近70%的企业对中国市场的前景抱有信心，且87%的企业表示暂无计划将生产线搬离中国。但是这些数据也印证了另一个趋势，即对中国市场的中短期前景的乐观程度在逐步降低。
四分之一的美中贸易全国委员会会员企业在去年已经减少或者停止了在华投资计划。其最主要的原因来自于成本增加、中美紧张局势和新冠疫情带来的不确定性。竞争、知识产权执法和数据流动也是企业在华运营面临的几个主要挑战。
“中美贸易和投资为美国创造约260万个就业岗位，” 美中贸易全国委员会会长克雷格·艾伦表示：“我们需要在未来几年中维持并增加更多工作岗位，同时找到减少双方在其他领域内冲突的方法。”
全面实施中美第一阶段经贸协议有助于恢复信心—88%受访企业对该协议持积极或有些积极的态度，因为它给追加关税按下了暂停键，并为稳固双边关系起到了重要作用。
不过仍有56%的企业认为，现在就对第一阶段经贸协议下定论，探讨其究竟是利大于弊还是弊大于利，还为时过早。
“企业现在已经看到了第一阶段协议的成果，尤其是在市场开放方面，”艾伦会长谈到：“如果我们要深化贸易谈判并努力达成第二阶段经贸协议，第一阶段经贸协议就必须取得成功。正如我们的调查结果显示，还有更多的工作亟待完成。”
