As tensions continue between the United States and China, U.S. companies doing business in China are urging the Chinese government to refrain from excluding U.S. products in covert ways, such as internal documents.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China, which has 900 corporate members, issued its latest annual white paper saying the 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.
Chamber President Greg Gilligan said at a news conference Tuesday (May 11, 2021) that while the Chinese government has established regulations regarding 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 it.
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.
In March, Swedish H&M and 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 influence how the Biden administration handles the punitive tariff measures imposed on China by the former Trump administration
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