US companies with high China exposure face more risks

Tense geopolitical relations between the U.S. and China have increasingly exposed American companies operating out of the east Asian nation to high levels of risk, and one market research company is sounding the alarm to which companies are most vulnerable.

In a report obtained by FOX Business on Monday, New York-based company Strategy Risks has dived deep into 250 of the U.S.'s largest publicly traded companies by their levels of Chinese exposure, finding that based on open-source information collected from 2023, Ford, Carrier, Apple, Tesla and Coca-Cola were at the top of the list. 

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"American consumers, regulators, investors and the companies themselves need to have a really good understanding of U.S. business exposure to China," Isaac Stone Fish, CEO and founder of Strategy Risks told FOX Business. "We have so much transparency in other parts of the corporate world, but this area has long been a black box.

"We think it's really important from a business intelligence perspective, but also from a public interest perspective, for there to be a lot more awareness of these issues," he added.

While some companies like Ford, which said in 2023 it would look to scale back its investments in China, have moved to reduce their vulnerabilities, other companies like Coca-Cola have opted not to reduce its dealings in the increasingly volatile region. 

The report detailed that increased exposure makes a company more vulnerable to risks relating to economics, supply chain and even reputational risks "during periods of heightened geopolitical tensions," while having a lower score meant a company was better insulated from the negative repercussions felt amid escalated tensions between Beijing and Washington. 

In order to evaluate a company’s exposure to Beijing, Strategy Risks' experts broke their review of a company down into five categories, including Business Fundamentals, Partnerships & Politics, Supply Chain, Regional Issues and Opacity. 

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Each category was then ranked between zero and 100 based on metrics determined by the research team.

However, while there are clear disadvantages to high exposure to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), particularly with companies involved in semiconductor production, as seen in the July chip stock tumble earlier this year, Stone Fish explained it is not just about productivity that opens a company up to exposure vulnerability.

"It's not necessarily the case that a company with a high China exposure is facilitating the strengthening of an enemy," he said. "What the rankings show is how U.S. companies have entangled themselves – especially very large U.S. companies -- with China, and especially with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), over the decades."

Stone Fish explained the point of the report is an attempt to not only flag exposure risks for individual companies, but to better inform stakeholders and those interested in the companies' CCP dealings.

Tesla, for example, which was ranked fourth on the list and which has endured challenges relating to semiconductor production in the past, was dinged for reasons other than productivity concerns. 

In 2022, the electric car company opened a showroom in Xinjiang, an area in China where the CCP is widely reported to be carrying out human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghurs. Additionally, Telsa was flagged earlier this year by Human Rights Watch for being "implicated" in forced labor.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has also been scrutinized for years over his allegedly close ties with the CCP.

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"People need to know that exposure to China and China risks – it's not just how much business are you doing in China, or what's your supply chain exposure. It's also the politics of it," Stone Fish said.

The expert said the report is intended to enable people to "make better decisions about how they choose to work with companies on this list."

"Because they know that this company has a joint venture with the Communist Party, [or] this company has very high supply chain exposure to the party, [or] this company potentially works with, or sources from, companies with ties to forced labor," he added, laying out factors that are of increasing importance to the American public. 

"Bringing more of that information out there we think really matters," Stone Fish said.

Tesla, Carrier, Coca-Cola U.S. and Apple did not return FOX Business’ request for comment. 

Ford China and Coca-Cola China could not be reached.