The Five Reasons Why Chinese Consumers Don’t Care About The China – U.S. Trade War

The China vs United States Trade war is a constant discussion in “The West” and is highly visible because it causes companies like Apple to talk about raising consumer prices. China is very different from the United States and here is why the Chinese consumer has very little concern about the Trade War:

MEDIA: The Chinese Government controls the media and they are tamping down emotions. Compare this to President Trumps approach of screaming about the trade war daily which causes consternation for both Trump supporters and detractors
COST: The Chinese consumer is not seeing price increases as a result of the Trade War, whereas the American consumer is. Like all things political, “its about the economy, stupid!”
STABILITY: Under President Trump everyday is turmoil but Chinese President Xi Jinping the economy and politics are (for now) stable. This causes the Chinese consumer to just go about their daily business without thinking much about the US. If the trade war drags on and Chinese factories actually lay off workers, they will notice. Again, “its about the economy, stupid!”
NATIONAL PRIDE: In the few places that the Chinese consumer has an awareness of the Trade War, they have rallied around their own products and country. Consider Hauwei which is so embattled in Canada, the US, the UK…but this has done nothing but boosted citizens national pride and caused them to buy more Huawei products
ALTERNATE PRODUCTS: The Chinese economy very much depends on the US, but Chinese consumers do not. China has its own products that are (far?) superior to Facebook, Google, Amazon, Ford, Kraft, McDonald’s… so from a consumer standpoint, they don’t think about it much.

Put simply, at a national economic level China needs the US much more than the other way around, but the US consumer needs China much more than the other way around.