Macau casinos could get caught in US-China trade war crossfire, say analysts
Three out of the six major operators in Macau are owned by US-listed companies
Could casinos in Macau get caught up in the crossfire of an escalating trade war between the United States and China? Beijing could put pressure on operators with a US parent in a number of ways, according to analysts.
“The US casinos are sitting on a geopolitical fault line,” said Steve Vickers, a former head of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force’s criminal intelligence bureau for 18 years, and now chief executive of political and corporate risk consultancy, Steve Vickers and Associates.
“Should relations [between China and the US] deteriorate further, Beijing may ask itself why it needs to tolerate so much money being repatriated by the US casinos,” he told the South China Morning Post via email.
“It would surely be better from Beijing’s perspective that the gaming proceeds go to more loyal and local champions, not foreign firms. And especially not to those controlled by China’s main economic rival,” he said.
The Trump Administration on July 6 imposed 25 per cent duties on US$34 billion worth of Chinese imports, with China retaliating with the imposition of duties on US goods, including soybeans and cars, of the same value, effectively igniting a long anticipated trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Of the six major operators in Macau, three are owned by US-listed companies. Wynn Macau, Sands China and MGM China are owned by Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International, respectively.
