Trade war impacts US companies' business on Single Day

About 50,000 US brands were involved in this year's Single Day

The biggest Chinese shopping festival this year has attracted the participation of 200,000 brands, with US companies occupying about a quarter. Big names like Apple and Estee Lauder ran a lot of promotions on the Alibaba platform and their websites in the US.

However, their performance on Single Day was disappointing because about 80 per cent of Chinese consumers said that they would boycott all kinds of US goods on November 11, according to a survey by AlixPartners. That means the US companies’ plans to take a slice of the pie that is the biggest shopping event in the globe's biggest market fell through due to the trade war.

Chinese consumers’ move comes as revenge for the US slapping taxes on hundreds of billions of US dollars worth of Chinese goods. After getting the US tariffs worth $234 billion last year, the Chinese economy was at a tight spot.

According to the Chinese administration, economic production grew by 6.5 per cent in 2018’s third quarter, the lowest increase over the past decade. Besides, the country’s currency and securities market both fell due to the trade war. The government has poured more money into the economy. However, the Chinese government has been shouldering mounting debts, which made splurges difficult.

The US tariffs have been slowing down the operations of Chinese manufacturers, leading to redundancies and more conservative consumer spending. Moreover, investors have started selling stocks of US and Chinese companies since last year.

The economic troubles have been affecting the Chinese people. As reported by the New York Times, Shawn Yang, a 27-year-old officer in Shanghai, said that on the previous Single Day, he only spent $300 on Zara jeans, moisturising cream, and two shirts, while on the 2017 Single Day he spent $600 on sneakers, sports clothes, yoga carpet, and a coffee machine.

Alibaba, of course, has been impacted by the trade war. Since last June, its stock value on the US exchange lost 30 per cent. As of the end of last September, the Chinese e-commerce giant recorded $12.4 billion in revenue, up 54 per cent on-year – much lower than analysists’ estimated growth.