Foreign direct investment
Why it makes sense to ratchet-down US China trade tensions
Published 27 July 2017 | 1 minute read
This white paper discusses the escalating U.S. China trade tensions with the objective to provide a firmer factual basis for a discussion of the US-China economic relationship.
This report is based on an extended research effort undertaken by the Hinrich Foundation, which included interviews with scores of MNC executives doing business in China, as well as an analysis of publicly available financial data for 22 MNCs with substantial business operations in China. Our objective is to provide a firmer factual basis for a discussion of the US-China economic relationship.
Executive summary
- U.S. China trade tensions are on the rise. The likelihood for a period of trade turbulence between the United States and China is greater than anytime in recent memory.
- Despite rising trade tensions, US companies and China have grown increasingly dependent on each other through foreign direct investment.
- US companies, attracted by China’s large consumer market, are now dependent on Chinese sales to meet their bottom lines.
- Likewise, China needs foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) to continue developing the Chinese economy. New research suggests that FIEs have contributed 33% of China’s GDP and 27% of total employment in 2013.
- This mutually beneficial partnership is at a critical inflection point. Questions are being raised in China about whether FDI continues to be as necessary as in the past, and antiglobalization sentiments are rising in the US.
- This paper concludes that the partnership between US companies and China has been on balance immensely profitable for both parties – and needs to be preserved moving forward.
© The Hinrich Foundation. See our website Terms and conditions for our copyright and reprint policy. All statements of fact and the views, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author(s).
From 2014 to January 2024, Mr. Olson was a Senior Research Fellow of the Hinrich Foundation. Mr. Olson began his career in Washington DC as an international trade negotiator and served on the US negotiating team for the NAFTA negotiations.
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Author
Lauren Kyger
Lauren Kyger is the Digital Content Manager for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and a former Associate Editor for TradeVistas, an online trade magazine supported by the Hinrich Foundation.
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