US firms in China are hoping for a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) this year, a survey showed, as they look for relief from trade barriers raised during the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
More than 60 percent of American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in China members surveyed cited the need to restore regular visa services for business executives and their families, a survey released by the group yesterday showed.
Another 47 percent wanted the removal of tariffs, with more than three-quarters of companies complaining that measures levied during the trade war were impacting their operations.
Photo: AFP
Still, the results suggested companies realized that it was necessary to first improve ties that have remained tense, despite Biden’s defeat of Trump in November last year.
About 54 percent of respondents called for “regularized government-to-government communication” to rebuild relations, while 38 percent wanted a Biden-Xi summit this year.
While the chamber did not disclose the names of the 125 companies that participated in the survey last month, its membership includes the Chinese branches of some of the US’ best-known brands, such as Boeing Co, Coca-Cola Co and Walt Disney Co.
Over the past few years, “there’s grown a gap between the two countries and the relevant officials and how much they communicate, which right now is not a lot at all,” AmCham China chairman Greg Gilligan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday. “If the two countries’ leaders get together and get that process going again, that would be a good thing.”
Gilligan added that Chinese ministries have been asking the chamber if it had questions over recent recently regulatory moves that have shaken up markets.
In response to a question about how companies are reacting, Gilligan said: “I would say there’s kind of a go-slow approach right now to see how things shake out.”
The prospects for a face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies look uncertain, although they spoke on the telephone on Thursday night.
Xi has not traveled outside of China in about 600 days as Beijing maintains strict controls against the COVID-19 pandemic, dampening hopes for a meeting with Biden on the sideline of the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York or the G20 summit in Italy.
High-level talks between top US envoys, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry have so far highlighted disagreements and yielded few results. US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, who has expressed skepticism on the effectiveness of Trump-era tariffs, is said to be weighing a trip to China.
The survey suggested that companies were feeling more pain from tariffs. Only 22 percent of respondents reported no impact from the measures, compared with 43 percent in the chamber’s Business Climate Survey last year.
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