Overwhelming Majority Say Time To ‘Decouple’ From China

of them are in China. China has built itself up to be the world’s go-to manufacturing hub, mostly all of it thanks to American multinationals. Now popular support is turning against them.

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If there is one thing to come out of this pandemic, it is the fact that Americans believe the U.S. relationship with China has to change. Support for this runs across party lines and education levels.

The golden days of China as the go-to manufacturing hub for American companies is becoming a bygone era. At leasts that is what more than 70% of survey respondents say they want in a world post-pandemic.

Survey firm McLaughlin & Associates released their poll of American attitudes towards China on April 22 and it showed that 75% felt that the U.S. should end its dependence on China for medical imports, including things like N95 respirators and even ibuprofen, two markets China dominates.

That opinion holds across party lines with 62% of Democrats saying we need to end some or all dependence on China for medical equipment; 80% of Independents and 85% of Republicans.

When asked whether they agreed that post-pandemic life meant the U.S. and China trade relationship should change, 72% said they agreed and only 15% said they disagreed.

in the world, surpassing Singapore ports in 2018. (Photo by Su Xiaozhou/VCG via Getty Images)

VCG via Getty Images

Even those who disapprove of President Trump agreed that decoupling was in order, with 62% of those self-identified as disliking the president saying so. Within Trump’s camp, a whopping 86% said it was time to decouple.

Battleground and non-battleground states felt the same way about China, with around 72.5% saying they agreed the trade relationship had to change.

Moreover, some 60% of African-Americans said post-pandemic relations needed to change and 65% of Hispanics agreed, as well. College educated and non-college educated were also on board, with an average of 72.5% agreeing.

When asked if the U.S. should outright “withdraw manufacturing from China”, the number was still high, but by a smaller margin with 59% for a withdrawal.

Most U.S. multinationals do not have greenfield projects in China and have to contract out for manufacturing. Apple AAPL, for example, does not own a factory in China, but Taiwanese owned Foxconn makes and assembles most of Apple’s goods for both mainland consumers and for the export market. Foxconn does the same for other U.S. tech firms.

Within the 59% that wanted U.S. manufacturing to leave China, only the Democrats were slightly less likely to agree with that. Some 43% of Democratic Party supporters said they were for a removal of manufacturing from there compared to 70% Republicans and 62% Independents. This lower number suggests what many Democratic Party critics have said over the last few years — that the party has moved away from being a blue collar party and has embraced the A-list and Davos Man instead.

Of interest in that particular survey question posed by McLaughlin is that 59% of both college and non-college educated people agreed with the U.S. withdrawing manufacturing from China.

Judging by the survey, most participants are not fond of the world’s No. 2 economy.

When asked, “Do you favor or oppose Washington mandating that American companies with essential manufacturing and technology depart China to help rebuild the American economy; and upon moving back home be given tax incentives and tax credits for the jobs they create in America?” 72% were in favor and only 15% opposed.

Earlier this month, Japan offered its multinationals $2 billion to return manufacturing back home and another $200 million in incentives to those who left China to manufacture elsewhere in Asia.

Once again, with that universe of 72%, Democrats are more likely to disagree despite 57% being fine with providing companies with incentives to return home post-pandemic. Some 75% of Independents agreed with that statement as well as 84% of Republicans.

Republicans are becoming the anti-China, pro-blue collar labor party, a risk to Democrats who are now being cornered into a party of Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and the campus quad.

McLaughlin & Company is run by John McLaughlin, a former advisor and pollster for Donald Trump in 2016. His other political clients have included former Presidential candidate Steve Forbes and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to name a few.

Other takeaways from the survey suggest that 57% think the coronavirus response is shaping up to be an election issue, of which the majority of Democratic Party supporters back this view by wide margins.

A majority of Americans, 79%, think the country can unite around what President Trump calls “the invisible enemy”.

And lastly, 70% of Americans surveyed said that China “knowingly kept coronavirus data from international health professionals.” This too scales across party lines.

Only 17% of Democrats think China was honest about their coronavirus findings, compared to 10% of Independents and 8% of Republicans. An equal number of college and non-college educated — 71% — said they agreed that China was not forthcoming with the new SARS coronavirus when it was first discovered in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, in December 2019.

Some 3.01 million people have contracted the virus since, with 209,661 deaths worldwide.