Post-Tribune |

Speaker addresses U.S.-China trade at Gary Chamber meeting

With President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports while also limiting Chinese investment on U.S. tech industries, the head of a Chinese business group on Monday told the Gary Chamber of Commerce that benefits of doing business with China remain despite the current politics.

“One thing I get a lot is ‘Hey Colin, there’s a lot of turmoil in China right now, so it’s probably not the best time to do business with them,’ and to that I point to (Eli Lilly and Co.), which has been in China for 100 years,” Colin Renk, executive director of the America China Society of Indiana, said.

An American company, Klipsch Audio Technologies, got a profitable surprise when it entered the Chinese market, Renk said.

Klipsch speakers, he said, were not selling well.

“In China they thought (Klipsch speakers) were too cheap, the price,” Renk said. “So they increased the cost by 50 percent and they started selling.”

Approximately 90 percent of business between the U.S. and China are mergers/acquisitions and the top service export in China is education, Renk said, making a point to note that exports refer to both goods and services, not just goods.

“In terms of future acquisition, expect more of the same. We don’t know where trade is going, every week we get that off/on switch from Trump,” Renk said. “Every country is worried about Trump and escalating tariffs. So while Trump has made some changes, business is still booming.”

Chuck Hughes, executive director of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, asked Renk what local businesses should be aware of when attempting to do business with Chinese investors while also expressing concern about the Trump administration’s changes on tariffs.

“We are Gary, Indiana, the Steel City, (it is important) to know how the tariffs will affect us,” Hughes said.

Renk noted that there are a number of companies in Indiana with Chinese origin including Haier, Lenovo and Vanguard, but advised that researching a business, building relationships and being aware of Chinese customs and cultural differences are the most important aspects of doing business with China.