Even though Chinese companies are the hardest hit by Trump's aggressive maneuvers, only a few of the most important – such as technology giants ZTE and Huawei – have lobbyists or employees in the United States. Guan / AP Photo
The White House and Beijing can escalate an increasingly hostile trade war with harsh words and cascading waves of tariffs, but there is a battlefield where the Chinese do not fight back: Washington
Businesses have been in a total sprint to lobby lobbyists to fight for global free trade since President Donald Trump began tearing up treaties and imposing fines on imports of auto parts furniture. Aggressive moves, only a handful of the biggest – such as technology giants ZTE and Huawei – have lobbyists on the maintenance or the staff in the United States
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The reason is largely cultural and historical. Many Chinese companies are partly owned by the government, and they usually rely on Beijing officials or their US trading partners to fight for their interests. But they may miss opportunities to remove their products from Trump's growing tariff schedules. And Chinese investment advocates in the United States, who have fallen to their lowest in seven years, fear that silence only contributes to an increasingly hostile environment. "19659004" I have frankly tried to persuade Chinese companies, "said Bill Black, chairman of the Greater Washington China Investment Center. "Seeing what was on the horizon, I had tried to convince them to work with local American communities to advocate for a more open and friendly approach to investing. "
Siva Yam, president of the United States of America Commerce, a non-profit organization that represents US and Chinese companies, said the company culture in China and abroad is "controlled and run by the Chinese government," and Chinese companies are less likely to "openly lobby". agree to receive POLITICO newsletters or alerts. You can unsubscribe at any time.
But in the meantime, trade negotiations between the United States and China are in stalemate, Trump's sanctions hit more than other Chinese exporters. Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs in March on several countries, including China, and this month, it imposed duties on $ 34 billion worth of additional Chinese goods on the grounds. that this measure would protect American technology. Duties on other Chinese products of $ 16 billion should soon be imposed. And on July 10, her administration announced that she was going to tax an additional $ 200 billion in Chinese products ranging from handbags to toilet paper.
Beijing defends itself with penalties on American goods. But instead of encouraging its own companies to join the fight in Washington, the Chinese authorities have turned to what could be an obsolete textbook: urge US companies doing business in China to put pressure on Trump administration. It has worked in the past, but it will not pay as before, said Stewart Baker, a Steptoe & Johnson partner working on international trade.
Baker said that despite the hopes of US companies of economic expansion in China and Beijing have made it clear that they had the intention to create a domestic industry to replace US companies in the areas where US companies have an advantage. "China has not had a lot of pressure on these issues because the US companies that thought they had a huge opportunity in China would be lobbying for them," added Mr. Baker, "but these days are gone because China has convinced all these big companies that they do not have a great future in China ".
Up to now, US manufacturers have largely let the Trump administration convince that the penalties on the materials they need will create difficulties. After the president says he wants to impose sanctions, companies have a chance to avoid them because the administrative agencies need to gather public feedback before implementing them. Second, there is also a process by which US companies and US affiliates of foreign companies can apply for product withdrawal from tariff schedules after the fact.
U.S. US companies and affiliates of foreign companies filed more than 20,000 applications with the Commerce Department to exclude certain imports from steel and aluminum tariffs, but only 19 applications were filed. hosted to date by Japan, Sweden, Belgium and Germany. China
But many Chinese companies do not know that the process exists. Sally Peng, head of Asia-Pacific practice at law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, said she's led a "straw poll" of the public at a recent event for a year. Chinese Chamber of Commerce to see how many company leaders knew about steel and aluminum Trump administration rates.
"No one did," she told POLITICO
Chinese companies are not completely absent from the battle against US tariffs in Washington. In May, a handful of representatives of Chinese industry testified against some of the sanctions planned by Trump before the US Trade Representative. They included groups such as China's General Chamber of Commerce in the United States and a subsidiary of a Chinese law firm.
A company, an American subsidiary of the Chinese pharmaceutical company Novast Holdings, managed to have birth control removed from the initial list after its US operations manager warned that it was providing between 10 and 20% of the US market
Chinese companies have opted for a more indirect approach, even though they are allowed to lobby for tariff exemptions specific to China.
Nicole Bivens Collinson, who runs Sandler, Travis Chinese companies that act as suppliers to US companies have asked their partners to cover the costs of tariffs, while others have suggested splitting or covering tariff costs as long as their US counterparts.
The absence of Chinese lobbying in Washington could also contribute to a wave of general opinion has helped push Chinese investment in the United States to levels never reached since the Great Recession. Chinese investment fell 90% in the first half of 2018 compared to the first half of 2017, according to Rhodium Group, an independent research firm. Chinese companies have abandoned at least eight major acquisition attempts worth more than $ 2.1 billion in the first half due to a regulatory review, Rhodium said.
And the trend could worsen. Congress should approve a law that would give the government greater authority to block foreign investment offers that it deems harmful to national security.
But instead of pushing back, Chinese companies give up territory.
The current hostile climate "I think we will go in the opposite direction," said Robert Atkinson, president of the Foundation for Information Technology and Innovation, a think tank of Washington. tank. "I think that because of the toxicity of the relationship, you will see even fewer things in the future."
Yet the Chinese have found an effective way to influence Washington's policy: to go straight to the top
After the Commerce Department banned US companies from doing business with telecommunications company ZTE when they violated a deal on sales in Iran and North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked Trump to intervene. Trump told Trade Secretary Wilbur Ross to find another punishment for the Chinese company, and the ban was lifted last week.
"Major corporations like ZTE have a precedent for Xi Jinping to intervene personally and successfully.Trump, even on a subject as sensitive as Iran," said Derek Scissors, a resident researcher and expert from China at the think tank of the right American Enterprise Institute. "It's a good lobbying option as one can hope for."
