US companies in China forecast a gloomy year ahead. They are worrying about a deterioration in bilateral trade ties and nearly a quarter are delaying investments. China and the US have exchanged tit-for-tat tariffs on more than 300 billion dollars of goods in two-way trade. The tariffs have directly hit US businesses, increasing costs and lowering demand from Chinese consumers with some companies even forced to lay off workers. About one-fifth of firms have moved or are considering moving production outside of China, with the tariffs and rising costs top reasons. A majority of firms think tariffs should be kept in place in some fashion during negotiations.

Market access -- a long-time concern for US, European and other foreign businesses and at the top of the American administration’s list of gripes -- remains a problem for most companies. Another issue under debate between the world's top two economic powers is protection of American intellectual property, with the US accusing China of encouraging theft of US creations. For one-third of firms this has caused them to limit investment in China, rising to about one-half in technology and resource and industrial sectors.

Nevertheless, China is still a critically important market for many American companies.