The escalating tariff war between the US and China should have minimal impact on Macau due to the local gaming sector being primarily domestic focused with the majority of visitors coming from mainland China. However, there is a risk of secondary impact in the form of heightened geopolitical risk from worsened US-China relations or from higher costs of tariff-related goods having a ripple effect on more cost-conscious travellers and casino-goers, according to financial research firm CreditSights.
After US President Donald Trump last week raised the tariffs on goods imported from China to 145% while pausing additional tariffs on all other nations, CreditSights analysts Nicholas Chen and David Bussey noted that negative headlines in the wake of Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement had already been seen to weigh on the sector via a widening of Macau bonds. These included Sands China’s IG-rated Sands US-dollar bonds and the higher-beta High Yield Macau credits.
