Tag: International Trade and World Market

Biden to Restrict Investments in China, Citing National Security Threats

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The Biden administration plans on Wednesday to issue new restrictions on American investments in certain advanced industries in China, according to people familiar with the deliberations, a move that supporters have described as necessary to protect national security but that will undoubtedly rankle Beijing. The measure would be one of the first significant steps the United States has taken in its economic clash with China to clamp down on financial flows. It could set the stage for more restrictions on investments between the two countries in the years to come.…

China’s Exports Fall Again, Imperiling Its Economic Recovery

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The News China’s trade numbers dropped in July, according to government data released Tuesday, a sign that the country’s economic rebound was lagging despite efforts by officials in Beijing to revive growth. Exports from China, which has the world’s second-largest economy after the United States, have now declined for three months in a row while imports have fallen for five consecutive months. The numbers reflect declining demand for Chinese-made products, falling domestic demand, a real estate crisis and geopolitical tensions, including the war in Ukraine. The Numbers China’s exports dropped…

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu Says Company Will Keep Its Roots in Taiwan

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which is manufacturing the world’s most advanced microchips, conducts business on the island of Taiwan, dead center in one of the most geopolitically volatile places on the planet. That makes people in Washington very nervous. TSMC dominates the semiconductor industry; it’s a company that the United States can’t do without, 80 miles off the coast of China. The U.S. government has appropriated tens of billions of dollars to strengthen America’s own semiconductor sector and help fund TSMC’s nascent operations in the United States, far from China,…

Saudi Arabia to Extend Oil Production Cut by a Month

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In a move to support oil prices, Saudi Arabia said Thursday it would extend its decision to cut oil production by one million barrels a day for another month, to September. Oil prices have recovered strongly in recent weeks partly because of smaller stockpiles of fuel in the United States, but China’s tepid economic recovery has kept oil prices under pressure for most of the year. Saudi leaders need oil prices to stay high because the money from energy sales pays for government spending and ambitious plans to diversify the…

The Global Economy Is Fracturing. What Comes Next?

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Produced by ‘The Ezra Klein Show’ The world economy has experienced many shocks over the past few years: A pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Skyrocketing inflation. These are the stories that have dominated headlines — and for good reason. But they’ve also overshadowed a set of deeper, more fundamental shifts — the rise of China as an economic superpower, the fracturing of trade relations, the realities of the climate crisis — that are transforming the global economic order and prompting ambitious policy responses from leaders across the world. [You can…

Solar Supply Chain Grows More Opaque Amid Human Rights Concerns

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Global supply chains for solar panels have begun shifting away from a heavy reliance on China, in part because of a recent ban on products from Xinjiang, a region where the U.S. government and United Nations accuse the Chinese government of committing human rights violations. But a new report by experts in human rights and the solar industry found that the vast majority of solar panels made globally continue to have significant exposure to China and Xinjiang. The report, released Tuesday, also faulted the solar industry for becoming less transparent…

What Japan’s Economy Can Tell Us About China

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I hope that at least some of my readers are too young to remember this, but in the early 1990s many Americans — especially pundits, but also business leaders and a fair share of the general public — were obsessed with the rise of Japan. Two of the best-selling books of 1992 were Michael Crichton’s novel “Rising Sun,” about what he imagined to be the growing, sinister influence of Japanese corporations, and Lester Thurow’s “Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe and America.” It’s easy to forget…

One Reason China Is Willing to Engage Again: Its Troubled Economy

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Three months ago it appeared that China’s economy was on track to recover relatively quickly after being closed off to the world during the pandemic. Consumers were spending again. Exports picked up. Even China’s beleaguered housing market gave hints it was stabilizing. That is no longer the case. Official data released Monday revealed that the annual pace of growth in China’s economy tumbled to just a little over 3 percent in the spring, well below the government’s target. Now the faltering economy appears to have helped prompt a shift in…

Uruguay Saw Opportunity in China. It Got Schooled in the Hazards of Trade.

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Word that Uruguay was seeking a trade deal with China prompted exultation at El Álamo ranch, a lush expanse of grass punctuated by cactus and herds of cattle on the eastern plains of Uruguay. Most of the cattle are destined for buyers in China, where they confront tariffs of 12 percent — more than double the rate applied to meat from Australia, the largest exporter of beef to China. Ranchers in New Zealand, the second-largest exporter, enjoy duty-free access to China. “Bring on the trade agreement,” said Jasja Kotterman, who…

Janet Yellen’s Trip to China: 3 Takeaways

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The deep chill between the United States and China moderated a little over the past few days as Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen held marathon talks with a new group of top economic policymakers in Beijing. Ms. Yellen used softer language for America’s economic strategy toward China, disavowing a term that had caught on in Washington but offended Beijing. Yet even though more talks are a likely outcome of Ms. Yellen’s trip to China, neither she nor Chinese officials retreated from their policy positions. That left the two sides facing…