(Bloomberg) -- Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks global trade. Sign up here.
Most Read from Bloomberg
-
Is Trump’s Plan to Reopen the Notorious Alcatraz Prison Realistic?
-
Vail to Borrow Muni Debt to Ease Ski Resort Town Housing Crunch
-
As Trump Reshapes Housing Policy, Renters Face Rollback of Rights
Most European companies in China have so far been able to limit the direct damage from the trade war, a survey has found, though a majority conceded their business environment has grown more challenging this year.
The poll published Thursday by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China marks one of the first attempts to take stock of the mood among foreign companies trying to navigate the tariff turbulence. Some 59% of respondents in the online flash survey said the business environment has become more difficult since the beginning of 2025.
But while almost half said they were affected by Beijing’s tariffs on US goods, less than a third saw any impact from Washington’s duties on their exports from China. The chamber conducted the survey April 17-27 and received responses from over 150 firms.
The trade war’s fallout on confidence has emerged as the most disruptive consequence of the escalating tit-for-tat, with Donald Trump hiking US tariffs to the highest level in a century and Beijing retaliating in kind. The chamber said many members managed to “mitigate direct impacts of the tariffs,” in part as a result of an approach it describes as “in China, for China.”
“It is difficult to overstate how much uncertainty this trade war has created for our members,” said Jens Eskelund, president of the European business group. “But we believe that China can turn crisis into opportunity and demonstrate that it is a stable and predictable investment destination.”
The report comes amid signs of Beijing’s willingness to improve relations with Brussels, positioning itself as a more reliable partner at a time when Trump alienates the bloc. Last month, the European business group — which counts more than 1,700 corporate members — called on China to revise its industrial policies if it wants to avoid further backlash and build economic ties internationally.
The government in Beijing is keen to reverse a downturn in inbound investment that saw it tumble in 2024 to the lowest in over three decades.
Earlier this year, China unveiled an action plan on stabilizing foreign investment that called for measures such as removing all restrictions on market access in the manufacturing sector and ensuring equal treatment of goods produced by both local and international firms.