US companies based in China is not an exception to those who are affected but somehow they managed to survive the ordeal. The business leaders said that Trump is effectively asking US companies and consumers to feel them in order to prove a point to the Chinese and create leverage in the trade negotiations.
US business executives tried to reason with President Trump's administration regarding their concerns about the tariffs on Chinese products in a meeting in Beijing in 2017. The meeting convened after the visit of the US president in China after the Congressional passage of a tax cut for American businesses.
Business leaders were shocked by the outcome of the conversation as the officials responded that their companies just got a tax cut and they were told that things will get tougher with China. In less than a year, the US-China tariff war broke out. The president started imposing tariffs on more than half of China's exports to the US. The tariffs were responded with the same or much bigger weight in China. The Chinese administration imposed tariffs on more than 80 percent of US exports to China.
The US companies based in China see the tariffs as nightmares in their business operations. According to Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council in his recent visit in China tariffs are a tax on the American people he added that it has unintended consequences and be hard to remove.
The tariffs are viewed by most as counterproductive however many have come to appreciate that the treats brought by the tariffs can be useful on their part. Ever since the outburst of tariffs, negotiations between the Chinese and US trade started. Critical issues long been ignored were given emphasis.
Officials in the Bush and Obama administration used a different approach in their trade policy with the Chinese government. In 2006 a dialogue between the former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Chinese vice-premier Wang Qishan were engaged in 13 "strategic and economic dialogues". As efforts for cooperation on both sides flourish corporation grew more frustrated with the hardships they are facing in doing business with China. Mr. Allen noted that some issues have been repeated year after year and some of the issues were issues for more than 30 years.
In the view of the business leaders, the trump administration rushed too quickly with their tariff treats and its implementation. According to them the rush on the tariffs is the quickest way to ruin negotiations is to embarrass the other party publicly and back them in a corner.
They now believe that the administration wants businesses and consumers to bear the pain to prove a point to the Chinese government on the lapses of their trade policy.
