China's shoppers might shut out U.S. companies during the world's biggest shopping event

U.S. companies might not get to reap the benefits of the world's biggest shopping event thanks to the ongoing trade war with China, Bloomberg reports.

Singles' Day — a concept celebrating consumers who are, as the name suggests, single — was created a decade ago by Chinese online commerce giant Alibaba in a play off Valentine's day, and has grown to become the world's biggest shopping extravaganza, outpacing Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. But a survey suggests more than three-quarters of China's shoppers are considering boycotting U.S. goods during the event in a show of patriotism as Washington and Beijing remain in a deadlock over bilateral trade. In the survey, "national loyalty" was deemed more important than quality and price, Bloomberg reports.

That could very well change when the day actually arrives next week (on 11/11, to drive home the singles message), but with more than 200,000 brands participating and more than 1 million new products on sale, it's not hard to imagine shoppers will find ways to make the potential boycott a reality. "U.S. brands can expect some disruption because of the consequences of the U.S.-China trade war on consumer sentiment," a report compiled by consulting firm AlixPartners LLC said.

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But the standoff doesn't appear to be carrying over to individual Americans — pop superstar Taylor Swift will headline Alibaba's televised and live-streamed concert leading up to the start of the Singles' Day promotion. Read more at Bloomberg and The South China Morning Post.