THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: What’s the impact on business as relations between the United States and China fray and tensions mount?
Ever since Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China on Oct 1, 1949, US-China relations have been cordial at best and complex at worst. Rivalry has certainly intensified in areas such as diplomacy, politics and economics.
Global business will certainly take a hit if tensions mount between the world’s two biggest economies. Specifically, the business world will be watching the developing situation around high-profile Chinese companies like ByteDance, WeChat and Huawei.
If either Microsoft or Oracle conclude their acquisition of ByteDance and if the US takes more measures against WeChat and Huawei, Beijing would likely respond. This could come in the form of a boycott against high-profile American brands that are doing well in China, like the National Basketball Association (NBA), Starbucks, Apple and Coke.
That said, a possible strategy in all the media hype that the US is mounting on China could simply be to drum up news coverage ahead of the November elections, where US President Donald Trump is seeking a second term.
Mario Singh
Chief Executive Officer
Fullerton Markets
