Tariffs make companies unhappy, trade should be embraced: US-China Business Council head

China Daily interviewed Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council, as he attended the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Allen thinks the tariffs have made companies on both sides unhappy in various ways, and they should speak up and say that US-China cooperation on trade and investment is good for both countries, and bilateral trade should be embraced.

Here is an excerpt of his take on the trade tensions.

Question:

What do you think the companies on both sides should do to cope with the impact brought by the trade tension between the United States and China?

Craig Allen:

Tolstoy once said that every happy family is happy in the same way; and every unhappy family is unhappy in their own unique special way.

And the tariffs have created a situation that Tolstoy would appreciate very well — all companies dealing between the United States and China are all unhappy in their own unique way.

Some of them are very reliant on trade, and they are facing import duties, and they have to adjust their supply chains.

For a large company, that is easier. For small and medium-sized companies, that maybe is impossible, maybe they will go out of the business.

For service companies, this is less relevant. However, it is still important, because if bilateral trade tensions continue to increase, that will eventually have an impact on their market.

Also, the bilateral trade tensions have created instability in the stock market.

If this continues, it will take off a percentage point or more of economic growth, and will be very negative for everyone. We wish to avoid that outcome.

So companies should be encouraging the government to support bilateral negotiation, to enthusiastically endorse market opening and reform.

On the American side, companies should also talk about the importance of their China market, the importance of China trade, on their global business.

I would have to say, for almost every large US company, China is important. But right now people are quite shy to talk about that. I understand that, given the level of overall tension.

But now it's the time to take a stand, to iterate that US-China cooperation on economic matters, on trade and investment, is good for both of our countries, and should be embraced, and we should support our leaders as they address the difficult issues that are in front of them.

Reporter: Liu Xuan, Yan Yujie

Video: Xing Yi