General Motors (GM), one of America's top carmakers, leads US companies in its exposure to China, perched in a delicate position as bilateral trade tensions persist amid US President Donald Trump's steep 55% tariffs on Chinese imports, according to a research report published this week.
But GM is hardly alone. Elon Musk's electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla, rival carmaker Ford, engine manufacturer Cummins, aerospace and tech firm Honeywell, beverage giant Coca-Cola and chipmaker Qualcomm also rank in the top 10 for exposure to China, illustrating corporate America's deep dependence on the country.
Influential companies Amazon, Apple, Meta and Nvidia did not make it to the top 10 but remain among the largest tech firms at risk due to disruptions in the Chinese market and their global supply chains.
That is according to the latest annual index from market research firm Strategy Risks, which assessed the top 250 publicly listed US companies to identify those most vulnerable to US-China trade tensions in 2025.
The report analyses a range of public information - including company filings, media reports, and government data - to assign each firm an exposure score from 0 to 100.
The evaluation considered factors such as supply-chain dynamics, ties to the Chinese government and Communist Party officials, industry-specific regulations in China and even biases in the data sets related to a firm's transparency on China-related information.
With a score of 69.8, GM topped the list, followed closely by Cummins and Honeywell at 65.6 and 62.9 respectively. Tesla scored 60.7 while Coca-Cola tallied 58, closely trailed by Ford at 56.5 and Qualcomm at 56.2.
The report attributes GM's top ranking to its "relatively high number of joint ventures with Chinese state-owned companies".
According to the carmaker's website, it has 10 joint ventures in China, including a 50-50 joint venture called SAIC-GM with SAIC Motor, a state-owned Chinese company.
In December, GM said it expected to lose more than US$5 billion as it reorganised its struggling business in China, where car sales have dropped sharply.
Tesla and Ford scored high this year in the category assessing exposure to politically sensitive areas and human-rights concerns "due to their extensive presence in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as their public overtures to the Chinese government on sensitive issues", the report stated.
Colgate-Palmolive, a consumer products company, was also listed as among the most vulnerable to disruptions due to its heavy reliance on Chinese exports of plastic and electric toothbrushes, "with hundreds of containers shipped from Chinese ports to the US in 2024".
Apple, which topped last year's list at No 2, slipped to No 27 this year, but it still rated among the top six tech companies most exposed to China, along with Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia.
People line up while waiting at an Apple Store as Apple's new iPhone 15 officially goes on sale across China, in Shanghai, China, on Sept 22, 2023. (File photo: Reuters)
The California-based tech giant still earns about 17% of its revenue from China, and a substantial risk lies in its hundreds of manufacturing facilities across the country that build iPhones and MacBooks.
The report warned that any serious supply-chain disruption in China "could prove catastrophic" for Apple, even as it shifts more of its production to India.
Electronics like smartphones and laptops are currently exempt from Trump's 10% reciprocal tariffs on China.
Amazon ranked 20th overall, driven by its heavy reliance on Chinese-made products, which dominate its shipments to Western markets.
In 2023, shoppers in the United States spent about $200 billion on Chinese goods via Amazon, bringing the company an estimated $70 billion in net profit.
Microsoft placed 29th, with the report citing thousands of electronics shipped from China in 2024. Key artificial intelligence (AI) components like doped silicon wafers face a 50% tariff, potentially slowing its AI expansion.
Nvidia came in at 85th, hindered by American export bans on its top chips to China. The company is now focusing on autonomous driving, supplying Orin chips to Chinese electric vehicle maker Build Your Dreams (BYD), the world's largest in the sector.
Meta ranked 94th, with its China revenue rising 34% in 2024 to account for 11% of total earnings.
It also earns about $7 billion a year from Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein through ad sales and relies on Chinese electronics for its virtual reality (VR) and AI hardware, the report found.
Shein and Temu logos are seen in this illustration taken on Aug 22, 2024. (File photo: Reuters)