DEJA VU
But for all the joviality between the two nations, a sense of deja vu lingers among those who remember how quickly relationships deteriorated during Trump’s first name.
” From now on, until the condition becomes a little bit clearer, all our US clients have to pay in enhance,” said Dominic Desmarais, key solutions agent at Lira Solutions, a Suzhou-based organization that connects Taiwanese manufacturers with international buyers of everything from toys to furniture and titanium products.
” If Donald Trump truly imposes 40 per cent, or whatever, duties on Chinese goods coming into the United States, I don’t want to be stuck with custom-made products for specific customers that only disappear,” he added.
” That happened a bit, seven, eight years ago, when Donald Trump put 25 per cent tasks on 85 per cent of the goods coming out of China. “
Another business war would get China much more vulnerable than when Trump initially raised tariffs in 2018, as it grapples with a strong house crisis, big local government debt and 16 per cent youth unemployment, among other challenges.
The poverty of China’s condition is never lost on the roads of its capital.
” What I can see is that China’s economy is not very good at the moment, due to the impact of the pandemic, and ( the fact that ) Trump himself is a crazy, wild person ( doesn’t help matters on our side ),” said a Beijing resident surnamed Wang, 36.
” The pressure still remains quite big ( for us ). “
The effects of the past trade conflict continue to be felt in the country’s second-largest market, where foreign businesses are holding off on investment and diversifying their supply stores by putting more money into other nearby areas, such as Vietnam.
Christoper Yeo, a finance director at a Singapore-owned digital infrastructure company in Beijing, said he expects Trump’s tariff threats to continue to pinch on cross-border investment and financing from the US and other West-aligned nations.
His firm’s current source of funding is from non-US shareholders, and, therefore, he said he does not expect Trump’s return to the White House to impact on his life in China.
” But I would imagine US institutional investors would continue cutting back on their Chinese exposure,” he said. ” There used to be a few US firms invested in Chinese infrastructure as well- that is non-existent now. “