Financing Impacts on Chinese Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises Based on the U.S.-China Trade Dispute

Abstract

This study takes small and medium-sized manufacturing (export) enterprises in China as the research object. In the research methodology used, the impact effects of the financing difficulties of China's SMEs arising from the increase in U.S. tariffs are collated and discussed based on monthly customs data before and after the outbreak of the U.S.-China trade war (starting from the year before the outbreak of the trade war, i.e., 2016, (the latest data available as of August 2020), respectively. First, fill in the gaps in the existing literature and further sort out the underlying data work: which products are specifically involved in the three rounds of U.S. tariff increases (and subsequent exemption policies)? Statistics are compiled on typical facts such as the proportion of trade in products involved in the tariff increase in China's exports, the distribution of industries, and the degree of change in trade volume to visualize the impact of the U.S. tariff increase on China's exports. Second, empirical judgment: What is the negative impact of the increase in U.S. tariffs on the financing of Chinese small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises? This study empirically investigates, at the normative level, whether small and medium-sized export manufacturing firms have significant financing difficulties in the face of the U.S. tariff hike, using the above-mentioned market segments as examples.