Tag: International Trade and World Market

Congress Clashes With Biden Over Tariffs on Illegal Chinese Solar Panels

Media Library

The Senate voted on Wednesday to reinstate tariffs on solar panels from Chinese companies in Southeast Asia that had been found to be coming into the United States in violation of trade rules. The measure, which passed by a vote of 56 to 41, had already been approved by the House. It sets up a showdown with the Biden administration, which had temporarily halted the tariffs to try to ensure that the country had an adequate supply of solar panels in the fight against climate change. President Biden has said…

As Xi Befriends World Leaders, He Hardens His Stance on the U.S.

Chin@Strategy

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has rolled out the red carpet for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, lauding him as “an old friend of the Chinese people.” He has sipped tea in a garden with President Emmanuel Macron of France, treating him to a performance of an ancient Chinese zither. And he has talked on the phone with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, offering well wishes for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But even as Mr. Xi has offered a glad…

Why China’s Shrinking Population Is a Problem for Everyone

Chin@Strategy

Despite the rollback of China’s one-child policy, and even after more recent incentives urging families to have more children, China’s population is steadily shrinking — a momentous shift that will soon leave India as the world’s most populous nation and have broad rippling effects both domestically and globally. The change puts China on the same course of both aging and shrinking as many of its neighbors in Asia, but its path will have outsize effects not just on the regional economy, but on the world at large as well. Here’s…

‘Zero Covid’ Behind It, China’s Economy Starts to Recover

Chin@Strategy

Economic growth began to recover in China during the first three months of the year, after the government abruptly lifted stringent “zero Covid” measures in early December. The Chinese economy grew 4.5 percent from January through March compared with the same months last year, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Strong retail sales, up 10.6 percent in March from a year earlier, led the way. The stakes for the rest of the world are high. China has been the single largest engine of global growth for most of…

U.S. Car Brands Will Benefit Most From Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks

Chin@Strategy

American brands like Tesla and General Motors will benefit most from rules that determine which electric vehicles qualify for tax credits starting on Tuesday. Foreign carmakers like Hyundai will be at a significant disadvantage because of restrictions aimed at cutting China out of the supply chain. Only 10 vehicles will initially qualify for tax credits of $7,500, less than a quarter of the battery-powered cars on sale in the United States. But those 10 include many of the most popular models and accounted for two-thirds of electric vehicle sales before…

China’s Rise Relied on the West. Xi Jinping Is Turning Away.

Chin@Strategy

In late 1978, China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping set in motion two major policy shifts that would change China and the world order in the decades to come. At a Communist Party meeting in December of that year, the leadership declared that China would turn its focus from political struggle to economic development. Within days, China and the United States announced that they would establish diplomatic relations. These two events marked the end of China as a hermit country where one billion people lived in extreme poverty and the start…

China Wine Tariff Pushes Australia’s Grape Growers Into Crisis

Chin@Strategy

For years, China’s thirst for Australian wine seemed insatiable. Chinese drinkers were so passionate about big-bodied red wines from Australia that many vineyards replaced white grapes with darker varieties. Wineries even reverted to using corks — instead of convenient screw tops — because Chinese consumers liked the traditional plug. But then everything unraveled. In April 2020, Australia’s prime minister at the time, Scott Morrison, called for an independent investigation into the origin of Covid-19. Beijing was furious, denouncing “political games” meant to assign blame for the pandemic. In response, China…

A Chinese Commonwealth? An Unpopular Idea Resurfaces in Taiwan.

Chin@Strategy

The K.M.T. has a long history of arguing for economic integration with China. The party’s roots date back to the nationalist army that lost a civil war against Chinese Communists in 1949 and escaped to Taiwan to regroup. K.M.T. officials, who initially ruled as a military dictatorship, were so committed to the dream of returning to the mainland for a rematch that, a Ming Chuan University professor told me, they routinely barred active-duty soldiers from getting married, out of fear soldiers would be diverted from their cause. The closest that…

Biden and E.U. Leader to Discuss Ukraine and Trade Spat

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — President Biden is scheduled to meet on Friday afternoon with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and the two leaders are expected to coordinate on support for Ukraine and open negotiations over U.S. clean energy subsidies that have prompted anger among some European nations. The discussion, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the White House, will range from a potential trade deal to concerns over China’s support for Moscow, and will be a test of the trans-Atlantic allies’ ability to hold together a unified front…

China’s Economic Support for Russia Could Elicit More Sanctions

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — President Biden and his top officials vowed this week to introduce additional sanctions aimed at impeding Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine. But the administration’s focus is increasingly shifting to the role that China has played in supplying Russia with goods that have both civilian and military uses. As one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of products like electronics, drones and vehicle parts, China has proved to be a particularly crucial economic partner for Russia. Beijing has remained officially unaligned in the war. Yet China, along with countries like…