The survey reveals that European companies in China are less confident from commercial perspectives

Although European companies say that the direct impact of the American-Chinese Tariff War against their Chinese operations has been relatively limited, they are less confident about the short-term commercial prospects, according to a survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

European companies were better prepared for the current trade war than the first round in 2018, and had been able to alleviate the direct impact of the increased rates, said Chamber Jens Eskelund.

However, the trade war had considerably affected businesses, with 59% of respondents in the survey saying that doing business had become more difficult this year.

There was also pessimism as to the prospects of the next two years, with 64% of respondents expecting intensified competition and 58% expressing concerns about future profitability.

The survey of 162 members of the Chamber revealed that they were the most affected by China prices on American products, almost half of the respondents saying that they were a problem.

Chinese prices affected basic products that were essential to manufacturing and could be painful for businesses, said Eskelund.

On the other hand, more than two -thirds of the respondents said that they had not been affected by the American prices on imports from China, which could be attributed to the approach “in China, China”, which many companies had adopted, revealed the investigation.