Business
Xi Faces Hurdles Bashing American Brands in a Trump Trade War
- State-backed firms partly own some of the biggest U.S. brands
- Consumers have punished foreign companies in earlier disputes
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As a trade war looms, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s biggest weapons could be boycotts of American brands by his country’s legion of consumers.
But Xi would also be risking collateral damage at home: The China operations of all-American brands ranging from Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald’s Corp. to Walt Disney Co. are co-owned by state-backed Chinese firms.