The U.S. Chamber of Commerce usually takes a white-glove approach to criticising their members’ businesses in China. But in a recent study, conducted for the Chamber by the Rhodium Group, there is a marked change of tune. The Chamber said its members are experiencing a harder time to grow markets in China, not because they are lousy business leaders, but because the government does what it can to tip the scales in favor of Chinese brands.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the report is the growing recognition that Chinese multinationals are steadily capturing market share from American—and Western—companies across strategic industries. Chinese brands are no longer confined to low-cost manufacturing; they are becoming globally recognized competitors. TikTok already dominates global social media engagement, BYD has emerged as a major challenger to Tesla with lower-cost electric vehicles, AliExpress is expanding aggressively in global e-commerce, and COMAC is positioning itself to eventually compete with Boeing in commercial aviation.
The 78-page report, titled China’s Next Generation Industrial Policy, said Beijing’s commercial strategies are evolving in two significant ways. The strategy is becoming more systemic and pervasive across layers of production and building entire soups-to-nuts ecosystems. Unlike the U.S., where we may excel at design, innovation and final assembly, China is moving into all three modes. They control the markets of the goods pulled from the Earth all the way up to the final product. Solar panels are the best example.
Secondly, domestic policies are accelerating China’s trade dominance and deepening foreign dependencies on Chinese supply chains. This has led to the rapid global expansion of Chinese firms in global markets that are now on the cusp of replacing American corporate names. China is eroding their market share. Now they are worried, as the notion of “market access” is being replaced with “market erosion.”
From the Rhodium Group’s report:
Advanced industrial economies face the risk of sustained erosion in manufacturing competitiveness, particularly in sectors such as automotive, machinery, and chemicals. In aggregate, up to $650 billion – equivalent to around 12% of G7 manufacturing exports – could be directly exposed to Chinese market share gains by 2030 if they continue at the current pace. Over time, this could trigger broader effects, including declining investment, weakened innovation ecosystems, and the loss of industrial capabilities.
The report said that many governments have begun to react through trade defense measures but was loath to mention tariffs in this regard. They mentioned industrial policies such as the ‘CHIPS Act’ and ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ for renewable energy tech, alongside efforts to de-risk supply chains from mainland China. But noted that these responses were “fragmented” and “uncoordinated.”
For the Chamber, this risks amplifying trade diversion (transshipment via Southeast Asian ports, or explosion of trade to emerging markets), duplicative investment (especially in the U.S. and EU), and leaving imbalances unaddressed. They suspect China’s industrial policy is likely to continue reshaping global markets, entrenching dependencies, and eroding industrial competitiveness. This seemed to be their base case which, arguable, is a worse case scenario for the countries looking to reindustrialize.
China’s Exports: More Than You Think
China’s export share gains by value alone present an incomplete picture because the country’s overproduction often sends prices lower. Countries are being inundated with Made in China goods of all types, only the price for those goods have declined because the state’s main concern is full employment, not making money off those goods, something the Chamber does not touch upon.
Export share gains when measured by volume are still solid and gaining. China’s producer price index, which measures changes in the prices received by producers for their goods, has contracted every month from September 2022 to February 2026. Chinese producer prices are now 5.4% lower than they were in January 2022. This downward price pressure persists due to rising excess industrial capacity, persistent imbalances between production and domestic demand, and intensifying domestic competition among provincial players in the market.
The Chamber also called out the undervalued renminbi (RMB). This should put to rest once and for all any talk of China wanting a petroyuan. A petroyuan means a stronger Chinese currency. China does not want that.
The China currency adjustment has been particularly pronounced against the euro, with the renminbi depreciating by 8.2% in nominal terms and even more in real terms once inflation is taken into account.
The weaker RMB has driven a sustained decline in export prices, even as prices in other regions have risen over the same period. This has created a pronounced divergence in import prices in both the United States and Europe, with goods sourced from China becoming significantly cheaper relative to those from other suppliers, the report stated. However, it is worth noting that the Chamber and its members never complained when the RMB was trading at 8 to 1 levels, even weaker than it is trading at today, because prior to the imposition of tariffs in 2018, the Chamber’s members’ main goal was market access and expansion in the mainland. Now that that seems to be a fading dream, the stronger RMB, by comparison, has become problematic.
Still, the Chamber’s take on China is imperative. Arguably, their view sets the tone for how pro-business and overall pro globalization elected officials and bureaucrats view the world’s No. 2 economy. The Chamber has gone introspective. The Rhodium Group report indicates the Chamber is no longer shying away from criticizing China.
Corporate China vs Corporate America
Chinese companies have gone global, and in key markets once dominated by Western players, like automotive. They are capturing a growing share of global markets, and are becoming more reliant on foreign sales just like many American, German, and South Korean auto makers.
But those sales are helped along by weak local demand in China and overcapacity, which have forced companies into exports to other countries if they want to keep their employment engine firing. For the top 500 Chinese companies, the overseas share of total revenue rose from 44% to 47% between 2022 and 2024. That level is now comparable with their American peers, where the top 500 US firms were dependent on overseas markets for 45% of their revenues in 2024. In many cases, they are eating into American corporate market share.
“Chinese firms are becoming robust global competitors in both established and emerging industries. Companies in traditional industries such as Haier, Wanhua Chemical, and Weichai have roughly doubled their non-China revenues between 2021 and 2025, as have firms in emerging and new technology industries like BYD and CATL,” the report said.
BYD is often cited as the No. 1 China household name abroad. It now brings in most of its revenue from overseas sales.
Chinese automakers like BYD are the best examples for Chamber member interests. In ASEAN, the EU, and Latin America, China autos have gained market share thanks in part to the U.S. leaving (as is the case with Ford in Brazil and all U.S. car companies in Russia). China-car models went from 2% of the market in 2019 to 12% in 2025 in ASEAN; 2% to 6% in the EU; and 2% to 11% in Latin America. In certain countries, China cars outright rule the road now. This is true in Russia and Thailand, where companies like BYD, SAIC and Great Wall account for nine out of ten of the top ten selling models. American cars are non-existent.
Where The Chamber Suddenly Sounds Like CPA
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is having their CPA moment.
The Rhodium report’s final warning sounds familiar.
Chinese policymakers speak of addressing overcapacity, but their actions tell a different story that prioritizes competitiveness, capacity upgrading, and exports over rebalancing.
“Absent a strong, unexpected change in policy strategy, China’s industrial policy will likely translate into a significant shift in global industrial competition,” Rhodium report authors wrote. “Within this timeframe, China is likely to achieve global competitiveness across nearly all major sectors that underpin growth in G7 manufacturing, including automotives, semiconductors and electronics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. This will translate into rapid global market share gains for Chinese companies, their products, and services, swiftly hollowing out manufacturing capacity and capabilities in advanced economies.”
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Wakes Up To China Competitive Threat
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce usually takes a white-glove approach to criticising their members’ businesses in China. But in a recent study, conducted for the Chamber by the Rhodium Group, there is a marked change of tune. The Chamber said its members are experiencing a harder time to grow markets in China, not because they are lousy business leaders, but because the government does what it can to tip the scales in favor of Chinese brands.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the report is the growing recognition that Chinese multinationals are steadily capturing market share from American—and Western—companies across strategic industries. Chinese brands are no longer confined to low-cost manufacturing; they are becoming globally recognized competitors. TikTok already dominates global social media engagement, BYD has emerged as a major challenger to Tesla with lower-cost electric vehicles, AliExpress is expanding aggressively in global e-commerce, and COMAC is positioning itself to eventually compete with Boeing in commercial aviation.
The 78-page report, titled China’s Next Generation Industrial Policy, said Beijing’s commercial strategies are evolving in two significant ways. The strategy is becoming more systemic and pervasive across layers of production and building entire soups-to-nuts ecosystems. Unlike the U.S., where we may excel at design, innovation and final assembly, China is moving into all three modes. They control the markets of the goods pulled from the Earth all the way up to the final product. Solar panels are the best example.
Secondly, domestic policies are accelerating China’s trade dominance and deepening foreign dependencies on Chinese supply chains. This has led to the rapid global expansion of Chinese firms in global markets that are now on the cusp of replacing American corporate names. China is eroding their market share. Now they are worried, as the notion of “market access” is being replaced with “market erosion.”
From the Rhodium Group’s report:
Advanced industrial economies face the risk of sustained erosion in manufacturing competitiveness, particularly in sectors such as automotive, machinery, and chemicals. In aggregate, up to $650 billion – equivalent to around 12% of G7 manufacturing exports – could be directly exposed to Chinese market share gains by 2030 if they continue at the current pace. Over time, this could trigger broader effects, including declining investment, weakened innovation ecosystems, and the loss of industrial capabilities.
The report said that many governments have begun to react through trade defense measures but was loath to mention tariffs in this regard. They mentioned industrial policies such as the ‘CHIPS Act’ and ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ for renewable energy tech, alongside efforts to de-risk supply chains from mainland China. But noted that these responses were “fragmented” and “uncoordinated.”
For the Chamber, this risks amplifying trade diversion (transshipment via Southeast Asian ports, or explosion of trade to emerging markets), duplicative investment (especially in the U.S. and EU), and leaving imbalances unaddressed. They suspect China’s industrial policy is likely to continue reshaping global markets, entrenching dependencies, and eroding industrial competitiveness. This seemed to be their base case which, arguable, is a worse case scenario for the countries looking to reindustrialize.
China’s Exports: More Than You Think
China’s export share gains by value alone present an incomplete picture because the country’s overproduction often sends prices lower. Countries are being inundated with Made in China goods of all types, only the price for those goods have declined because the state’s main concern is full employment, not making money off those goods, something the Chamber does not touch upon.
Export share gains when measured by volume are still solid and gaining. China’s producer price index, which measures changes in the prices received by producers for their goods, has contracted every month from September 2022 to February 2026. Chinese producer prices are now 5.4% lower than they were in January 2022. This downward price pressure persists due to rising excess industrial capacity, persistent imbalances between production and domestic demand, and intensifying domestic competition among provincial players in the market.
The Chamber also called out the undervalued renminbi (RMB). This should put to rest once and for all any talk of China wanting a petroyuan. A petroyuan means a stronger Chinese currency. China does not want that.
The China currency adjustment has been particularly pronounced against the euro, with the renminbi depreciating by 8.2% in nominal terms and even more in real terms once inflation is taken into account.
The weaker RMB has driven a sustained decline in export prices, even as prices in other regions have risen over the same period. This has created a pronounced divergence in import prices in both the United States and Europe, with goods sourced from China becoming significantly cheaper relative to those from other suppliers, the report stated. However, it is worth noting that the Chamber and its members never complained when the RMB was trading at 8 to 1 levels, even weaker than it is trading at today, because prior to the imposition of tariffs in 2018, the Chamber’s members’ main goal was market access and expansion in the mainland. Now that that seems to be a fading dream, the stronger RMB, by comparison, has become problematic.
Still, the Chamber’s take on China is imperative. Arguably, their view sets the tone for how pro-business and overall pro globalization elected officials and bureaucrats view the world’s No. 2 economy. The Chamber has gone introspective. The Rhodium Group report indicates the Chamber is no longer shying away from criticizing China.
Corporate China vs Corporate America
Chinese companies have gone global, and in key markets once dominated by Western players, like automotive. They are capturing a growing share of global markets, and are becoming more reliant on foreign sales just like many American, German, and South Korean auto makers.
But those sales are helped along by weak local demand in China and overcapacity, which have forced companies into exports to other countries if they want to keep their employment engine firing. For the top 500 Chinese companies, the overseas share of total revenue rose from 44% to 47% between 2022 and 2024. That level is now comparable with their American peers, where the top 500 US firms were dependent on overseas markets for 45% of their revenues in 2024. In many cases, they are eating into American corporate market share.
“Chinese firms are becoming robust global competitors in both established and emerging industries. Companies in traditional industries such as Haier, Wanhua Chemical, and Weichai have roughly doubled their non-China revenues between 2021 and 2025, as have firms in emerging and new technology industries like BYD and CATL,” the report said.
Chinese automakers like BYD are the best examples for Chamber member interests. In ASEAN, the EU, and Latin America, China autos have gained market share thanks in part to the U.S. leaving (as is the case with Ford in Brazil and all U.S. car companies in Russia). China-car models went from 2% of the market in 2019 to 12% in 2025 in ASEAN; 2% to 6% in the EU; and 2% to 11% in Latin America. In certain countries, China cars outright rule the road now. This is true in Russia and Thailand, where companies like BYD, SAIC and Great Wall account for nine out of ten of the top ten selling models. American cars are non-existent.
Where The Chamber Suddenly Sounds Like CPA
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is having their CPA moment.
The Rhodium report’s final warning sounds familiar.
Chinese policymakers speak of addressing overcapacity, but their actions tell a different story that prioritizes competitiveness, capacity upgrading, and exports over rebalancing.
“Absent a strong, unexpected change in policy strategy, China’s industrial policy will likely translate into a significant shift in global industrial competition,” Rhodium report authors wrote. “Within this timeframe, China is likely to achieve global competitiveness across nearly all major sectors that underpin growth in G7 manufacturing, including automotives, semiconductors and electronics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. This will translate into rapid global market share gains for Chinese companies, their products, and services, swiftly hollowing out manufacturing capacity and capabilities in advanced economies.”
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
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