US-CN TRADE WAR, A DISTURBANCE IN MICE INDUSTRY

Executive Summary

The atmosphere of trade is looking gloom since the United States started an investigation on their trade policy in 2017. The U.S. attempted to raise a tariff in order to reduce their trade deficit which cause an unsatisfaction to many countries and accused China of unfair trading practices. Also, China reacted by imposing a tariff on American products. However, both U.S. and China held several meetings in order to end the conflicts but fail to achieve any mutual agreements, so the trade war continues. As a result, there are wide range impacts on every industry including MICE. Because of a concern in the economic situation, MICE travelers could be unwilling to spend more money on their trips.

Key Fact and Figures

• Currently, The U.S. has already imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese products and expect to impose $350 billion more.
• China, the world's largest business travel consumption market, had business travel expenditures of $344.6 billion in 2017 and expected to growth in 2018.
• The tension over US-CN trade war pushed down the number of Chinese tourists by 1.72% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year, according to Association of Thai Travel Agents.
• Thailand had a 95.57% growth in Chinese MICE visitors from 2015 to 2018, according to TCEB.