As tensions continue between the United States and China, U.S. companies doing business in China are urging the Chinese Communist government to refrain from excluding U.S. products in covert ways, such as internal documents.
The 900-company American Chamber of Commerce in China released its latest annual white paper, saying the Chinese government should abandon the use of subtle, off-the-record or internal guidelines that require its customers to use domestic brands instead of U.S. or other foreign products and services.
Greg Gilligan, president of the Chamber, said at a news conference Tuesday (May 11, 2021) that while the Chinese Communist government has established regulations regarding the equal treatment of foreign companies, when relations between the two countries turned sour, local government officials chose to take the politically safer route and offer more favorable policies to domestic companies.
He added that U.S. companies have reason to fear a boycott by Chinese consumers and need to be prepared for that.
Beijing has repeatedly claimed to treat foreign companies equally and to welcome them to invest in China. But foreign companies operating in China have long complained about restricted market access, opaque government regulatory procedures, preferential treatment of domestic private and state-owned enterprises, and ineffective protection of intellectual property rights.
A store of Swedish clothing company H&M in Beijing (Reuters, March 25, 2021)
In March, Swedish H&M and some other world-renowned brands were slammed and boycotted by Chinese netizens after they expressed concerns about the existence of forced labor in Xinjiang.
The Biden administration is reviewing U.S. trade policy with China. U.S. Trade Representative David Deitch said last week that he would be in touch with Chinese officials in the near future to assess the implementation of the trade agreement between the two countries. The outcome of the talks will affect how the Biden administration handles punitive tariff measures imposed on China by the former Trump administration.
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