Survey: US firms in China mostly oppose tariffs

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01:48

Most US businesses operating in China oppose the use of tariffs in retaliation for the challenges they face, a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai showed Thursday.

Almost 69 percent of the 434 respondents to the annual China Business Climate Survey opposed tariffs, while just 8.5 percent backed them.

It also shows that while US companies still face challenges in China, 34 percent of respondents felt Chinese government policies toward foreign companies had improved, up from 28 percent last year.

The challenges they feel range from an uneven playing field to poor protection of intellectual property rights.

Those that felt policies had worsened for foreign firms fell to 23 percent from 33 percent last year. Sixty percent said the regulatory environment lacked transparency, on par with 2017.

Multilateral negotiations

The survey reflects the mix of concerns and realities for American businesses in China at a time of heightened uncertainty as the Trump administration raises the ante in its trade war with Beijing.

Ken Jarrett, president of AmCham in Shanghai, said extrapolating from the survey findings, multilateral negotiations were a preferable approach.

“Now that the US government has China’s attention, I think actually there’s no alternative but to try to go back to the negotiating table,” said the former US Consul General in Shanghai.

The survey was conducted between April 10 and May 10 when the Trump administration was raising the firepower on China in its trade conflict with Beijing.

(With input from Reuters.)