Few U.S. Firms Leaving China Despite President Trump's Call To Decouple

Only 4.3 per cent of AmCham Shanghai’s members plan to move parts of their operations back to the United States, despite bilateral tensions between Washington and Beijing. Photo: AP

SCMP: Trump has called on US firms to leave China, but no mass exodus among ‘well-rooted’ companies

* The American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai’s annual member survey shows US firms are adapting to the volatile geopolitical situation
* While few are planning to leave China, a third have found it difficult to retain Chinese staff due to the US-China tensions

For American companies in China, the meltdown of bilateral relations represents the biggest concern in 2020, but few businesses invested in the country long-term are inclined to leave while enjoying healthy profits in an economy that has rebounded strongly from the coronavirus pandemic.

Almost two-thirds of respondents to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai’s annual business survey said US-China tensions were their biggest worry – the first time bilateral issues have led the poll, and well ahead of the second biggest concern, domestic competition, on 58 per cent.

Yet, 92.1 per cent of members said they do not have plans to leave China. Only 5.1 per cent of companies with global revenues over US$500 million plan to flee the country, even as the Trump administration pushes to decouple the world’s two largest economies.

“Under my administration, we will make America into the manufacturing superpower of the world and we’ll end our reliance on China, once and for all, whether it’s decoupling or putting in massive tariffs like I’ve been doing already,” US President Donald Trump said in a Labour Day address in which economically separating from China featured prominently.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Only 5% are thinking of leaving. The rest are staying. I know among my contacts who have operations in China (some that I helped to arrange), there is no interest to leave even after warning them that they are operating at their own risk. What can I say. It's all about the money.

from War News Updates https://ift.tt/2DNgpWD