Panic among businesses grows fast - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

Uncertainty among China-based companies grows fast after the US blacklisted Huawei and others, and China threatens to hit back, says Shanghai-based business analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters. Panic would be an understatement.

Reuters:

Analysts said U.S. companies had been more sanguine in the initial stage of the trade war, with many believing that it could not possibly go on, but that began to change after Washington last month accused Beijing of reneging on previous promises, prompting fresh tit-for-tat tariffs. 

The United States also last month put China's Huawei on a blacklist that effectively blocks U.S. firms from doing business with the Shenzhen-based telecoms equipment maker, aggravating existing frictions. 

"We have in the last three weeks fielded more calls from firms wondering about the political risk here than we probably have in the last 10 years," said Ben Cavender, an analyst at China Market Research Group, whose clients have ranged from clothing retailers to chemical firms. 

"Right now there's a lot more concern that the situation regarding the negotiations has become so unstable and so emotional, when or if there's going to be a resolution."... 

"It would not be inconceivable that China will look at, for example, large retail brands that are operating here and saying, well maybe they should also have fire code violations too. That would create immediate harm to a lot of businesses," Cavender said.

More at Reuters.

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