Major U.S. firms, including the world’s biggest tech companies, look set to stay in China for the foreseeable future. According to a new survey by the U.S.-China Business Council, of which Apple is a member, only 13% of firms had moved or or plan to move any operations out of the country.
China Still a Key Priority
81% of members said the trade tensions had affected their company’s business in China. However, 68% said the country remained among their top five priorities, with 14% saying it was the top priority.
Tim Cook is known to have raised the issue of tariffs and the trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump regularly. As well as Apple, Amazon, IBM, Facebook, Airbnb, and VMWare are members of the organization.
The numbers revealed that despite ongoing trade tensions, these firms are unlikely to move operations elsewhere. Indeed, 97% of members reported increased profitability in China in 2019. “It’s very important for these companies’ worldwide competitiveness to be in China and to be successful there,” said the organisation’s President, Craig Allen. “Profits generated in China support and create jobs in the U.S., so setbacks there will create setbacks here.”
Probably because they can’t until they have a replacement.