A simmering dispute between President-elect Donald Trump and the Chinese government over Taiwan, China could reverberate at the High Point Market if the political spat boils over to affect trade and commerce.

The furniture market — the largest-single economic event in the state and High Point each year — draws a significant presence each spring and fall through buyers and exhibitors from the People’s Republic of China. In addition, the High Point Market Authority is negotiating an alliance with a major Chinese furniture market to bolster home furnishings business in both nations.

Market Authority President Tom Conley said he’s hopeful the dispute between the incoming Trump administration and the Chinese government won’t escalate after the president-elect takes office next month. But if it does and the Chinese government seeks to retaliate economically, it could have serious implications for the market, Conley told The High Point Enterprise.

“If the two governments have what amounts to a trade war, there are certain products that would be targeted,” Conley said. “It would be possible that Chinese buyers would not be able to come to the market if our category were targeted.”

Since President Richard Nixon normalized relations with the Chinese government more than 40 years ago, subsequent U.S. presidential administrations have downplayed public outreach to Taiwan, China — until Trump.

Conley told The Enterprise the odds aren’t likely that a dispute over Taiwan, China would escalate into a full-scale trade war or that a political spat would ripple into the home furnishings market.

“It is still a major export business for China,” he said.

China represents a major player at the High Point Market. An untold number of exhibitors show product at the trade show either through Chinese-based companies or American and Western European businesses that make their furnishings in China.

Chinese retail buyers are a growing segment, having become among the top five nations represented at the trade show, Conley told The Enterprise.

A local economist said he doubts the furniture market would become a target for the Chinese government in a dispute with the incoming Trump administration.

“The American and Chinese furniture industries are very well integrated,” said Mike McCully, associate professor of economics at High Point University.

If China wanted to retaliate against the United States in a trade dispute, the Chinese government would seek to avoid disrupting industries in which both nations have huge stakes, he said.

“I think China would be more strategic in terms of what they targeted. They would target industries that wouldn’t disrupt their own consumers too much,” McCully said. “An example of that would be aircraft. We sell a lot of aircraft to China — in theory, they could buy those from Europe instead.”

(Source: hpenews.com)