China has seen an outflow of foreign investment at home and an increase in its own external investment so far this year during its trade war against the United States and Europe. China’s direct investment liabilities, an indicator of incoming foreign investment, fell by US$14.8 billion in the second quarter of this year, according to […]

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I’ve been talking about vibes a lot over the past week, so let’s talk about something a little more substantive. Trump and his movement basically have two main policy ideas: 1.) immigration restriction, and 2.) more tariffs. Let’s think about the second of these. Tariffs aren’t just a Trump idea anymore – they’re now an important part […]

The post Looking for the upside of tariffs on China appeared first on Asia Times.

The European Union (EU) remains an attractive market for China’s automakers even after the bloc imposed 17-38% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) earlier this month, said a Hong Kong-based prominent academic. “The competition of the Chinese EV market is quite fierce as local automakers are cutting prices,” Fan Di, an assistant professor at the […]

The post China EVs still driving for EU’s protected markets appeared first on Asia Times.

Both Trump and Biden imposed high tariffs on imported products made in China and other countries. Those impositions broke with and departed from the previous half century’s policies favoring “free trade” (less or minimal government intervention in international markets). Free trade policies facilitated “globalization,” the euphemism for the post-1970 surge in US corporations’ investing abroad: […]

The post Don’t believe Biden or Trump – tariffs don’t protect jobs appeared first on Asia Times.

The United States has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum products originating from China via Mexico, closing a loophole that had allowed Chinese metal suppliers to evade US tariffs since 2018. Steel products from Mexico will face a 25% tariff, unless they are melted and poured in Mexico, Canada or the US, according to the […]

The post US slaps ‘symbolic’ tariffs on China steel, aluminum appeared first on Asia Times.

China has launched a set of new rules to improve the traceability in its rare earth sector to ensure that sanctioned American firms can’t gain access to the nation’s precious metals. The State Council recently unveiled a set of new regulations, set to take effect on October 1, to regulate the country’s rare earth industry. […]

The post China tightening its grip on leaky rare earth supplies appeared first on Asia Times.

Beijing’s strategy to boost trade relations with countries in the Global South to diversify away from closing Western markets has taken a hit with Indonesia’s announced intention to impose a 100-200% tariff on China’s labor-intensive goods. Over the past few days, several Indonesian officials have said that the world’s fourth most populous nation is drafting […]

The post Indonesia rebuffs China’s Global South trade drive appeared first on Asia Times.

China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into pork imports from the European Union after the bloc decided to impose new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.  The investigation could eventually lead to an increase in China’s tariffs on EU pork products, hitting Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and France. Currently, China levies a 12% tariff on […]

The post China targets EU pork in tit-for-tat trade spat appeared first on Asia Times.

The European Union’s new tariffs imposed on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) will not greatly impact imports from China, according to the view of a former general counsel of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Chinese automakers can easily absorb the EU’s lackluster tariffs and maintain profitable margins in Europe, Greta Peisch, a […]

The post Chinese EV firms can absorb EU tariffs: expert appeared first on Asia Times.

Joe Biden is about to slap 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. A 100% tariff is an absolutely huge tariff. It means that Chinese EV makers would have to sell their EVs in the US at half the price of EVs manufactured elsewhere in order to be competitive. That just isn’t going to happen. A 100% tariff will probably […]

The post The Big Tariff era is here appeared first on Asia Times.

Beijing has called the European Union “protectionist” after the EU raided the offices of a Chinese security equipment supplier in Europe and probed into China’s procurement market for medical devices.  The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, on Tuesday carried out its powers given by the Foreign Subsidies Regulation for the first time […]

The post Firm offices raided, China calls EU ‘protectionist’ appeared first on Asia Times.

The Biden administration has unveiled a series of new measures to try to protect the United States’ shipbuilding and steel industries from being eroded by Chinese overcapacity and non-market investments. One of the measures is a newly-initiated investigation, under section 301 of the Trade Act, of China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. Another, still at […]

The post US complains China hurts shipbuilding, steel firms appeared first on Asia Times.

In December, the People’s Republic of China announced a retaliatory restriction of rare-earth element processing technology, a continuation of its strategy to monopolize the critical mineral market. Comprising a substantial proportion of what the United States categorizes as “critical minerals,” these elements are used extensively in crucial end products ranging from clean energy technologies to defense […]

The post Countering China’s rare earth dominance and coercion appeared first on Asia Times.

Following the conclusion of President Xi Jinping’s Hanoi trip earlier this week, China has claimed itself to be Vietnam’s best choice for trade and diplomatic partnerships in the Asia Pacific region. Perhaps, but the proof will be in the pudding. Will Vietnam directly export its rare earths, as the US hopes, or send them for processing […]

The post China wants role in US-Vietnam rare earths plan appeared first on Asia Times.

Even as the chokehold of Beijing’s economic coercion loosens, trade diversification remains the mantra in Canberra.  The Anthony Albanese government has picked up, with gusto, predecessor Scott Morrison’s mission of getting Australian exports to more markets to offset perceived over-reliance on China. In just shy of 18 months in the portfolio, Trade Minister Don Farrell has presided over […]

The post Why Australia should trade way more with Taiwan appeared first on Asia Times.

The growing use of economic sanctions by numerous countries today has increased the significance of WTO security exceptions, which allow members to retain otherwise WTO-inconsistent measures — such as discriminatory tariffs or import quotas or bans — on grounds of national security. In four cases since 2019, WTO panels have ruled on WTO members’ invocation […]

The post Testing the limits of WTO security exceptions appeared first on Asia Times.

Russia is speeding up the construction of a corridor in its Far East region in a bid to export more grain to Inner Mongolia in Northeast China. On Wednesday, the same day the Ukraine military said it had driven Russian infantry back from some positions around Bakhmut, the Kremlin said that it will boost its grain […]

The post China, Russia to accelerate grain corridor project appeared first on Asia Times.

Media on global trade frequently puts forward the narrative that the US–China confrontation will divide the world in two. But East Asian developing economies have a different view of supply chain decoupling since US–China merchandise exports and imports hit a record high in 2022 and East Asian production networks continue to move actively. Quantifying the […]

The post East Asia resisting US decoupling from China appeared first on Asia Times.

Protectionist trade policies and the lack of an economic agenda for East and Southeast Asia have become central themes in critiques of US policy towards the region and its approach to managing US-China “strategic competition.” According to these accounts, US protectionism undermines its economic draw in East Asia — and the political leverage stemming from it — at a time when it has […]

The post US protectionism eroding its allure in Asia appeared first on Asia Times.

‘The Middle East has oil, and China has rare earths,’ Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping noted in 1987 Rare earth elements are a class of 17 metals essential to the technology, transportation, energy, defense, and aerospace industries. These are used for high-powered magnets and precision parts in devices ranging from batteries, solar panels and wind turbines […]

The post Breaking China’s rare earths monopoly appeared first on Asia Times.