U.S. firms stay put

We need to look at this more as joint venture partners.

Washington (Xinhua) — American companies do not wish to leave but wanted to grow with China despite ongoing trade tensions, said the president of US-China Business Council (USCBC) who highlighted a “long-term view” in bilateral relations.

“When you’re talking about the two largest countries in the world, a transactional view is, in my view, inappropriate and unhelpful,” Craig Allen told Xinhua in a recent interview at the USCBC headquarters here. “We need to look at this more as joint venture partners,” Allen added.

The vast majority of US companies report that their China operations are profitable and they remain committed to the Chinese market notwithstanding the current trade tensions and worsening business environment, according to a recent survey conducted by the nonprofit group, which boasts about 220 US companies as its members.

“Nothing has fundamentally changed since the survey was done in June,” Allen told Xinhua.

“We want to expand in China. We want to contribute to China. We want continued collaboration in science and technology,” the USCBC president said, adding that American companies hope China will continue to expand market access.

In their new round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Washington last week, China and US officials achieved substantial progress in areas including agriculture, intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, exchange rates, financial services, expansion of trade cooperation, technology transfers and mechanisms for dispute settlement.

Allen said he remains optimistic that the Unites States and China will eventually reach a trade agreement. “Both countries realize that this (trade war) had a negative impact. So that’s a good starting point for the agreement,” he said.

The USCBC president pointed out that the additional tariffs as a result of the trade friction are beginning to be felt at the consumer goods level in the United States, as the prices of sporting goods, among others, have gone up just recently. “I think political Washington knows that very well and doesn’t want to see that,” he said.