Tag: International Trade and World Market

Europeans Have a Love-Hate Relationship With Chinese Cars

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BYD, China’s dominant maker of electric vehicles, aims to open so many outlets in Germany that no one has to travel more than 20 minutes to buy one of its cars. One of its Chinese rivals, Xiaomi, sees Germany as the foundation of its European expansion plans, after selling 700,000 cars back home. Germany is the birthplace of the automobile and the home of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. These days, it is also a top destination for Chinese companies selling cars at a considerable discount to European vehicles. “Customers don’t…

China and Europe Step Back From Trade War With Limits on Chinese Car Exports

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High-level talks in Beijing between the European Union and China ended on Friday with an unexpected agreement that could pull the two sides back from an imminent trade war. The most notable feature of the agreement involved what both sides described as an understanding on China’s exports of hybrid electric-gasoline cars, which have been among the most contentious points of tension between the two sides. Maros Sefcovic, the trade commissioner of the 27-nation bloc, said that the understanding could lead to China’s halving the number of hybrid gasoline-electric cars that…

America’s Naval Power Is Waning. That Could Change.

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The United States might be losing another war — one that could define the country’s security into the next century. Military and commercial power are intertwined. Maritime power, in particular, has always played a crucial part in establishing and maintaining commercial power. America is learning this lesson the hard way. For hundreds of years, the countries that have ruled the waves have ruled the world, as the 19th-century American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan put it. In an age of drones, we can be forgiven for thinking this time has…

China’s ‘Self-Reliance’ Drive Is Upending Trade With Europe

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To understand Europe’s growing alarm over its trade deficit with China, consider a striking statistic: China now sends six containers of goods to Europe for every one it gets back. That ratio has more than doubled in China’s favor over the last five years as Beijing’s drive for greater economic self-reliance has expanded the range of goods China produces at home instead of buying from abroad. Jens Eskelund, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, cited those figures last month and provided a simple explanation for why. “China…

The Hidden Policies That Power China’s Export Boom

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China has kept its export engine roaring with a combination of tax rebates and a weak currency, helping sustain economic growth at home while sending a surge of Chinese goods into markets abroad. But that strategy is fueling tension with its trading partners. And this week, officials from Brussels arriving in Beijing are preparing to press Chinese officials about a European trade deficit with China that exceeds $1.1 billion a day. Europe’s leaders say China tilts the scale with government subsidies and low-interest loans to its manufacturers, flooding European markets…

Oil Is Flowing From the Persian Gulf, but Prices Remain High. Why?

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More oil is flowing from the Middle East than at any point since the start of the war with Iran, yet crude still costs almost $100 a barrel, much more than at other times when supplies were more constrained. That seeming conundrum can partly be explained by a change in traders’ views about how long the conflict is going to last. Optimism that an enduring peace deal might be around the corner has given way to concern that hostilities could restart. In the meantime, the United States and other countries…

Two of China’s EV Makers Announce a Deal as Auto Industry Moves Toward Consolidation

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Two leading electric carmakers in China said on Monday they would combine their battery charging subsidiaries, in the latest sign of consolidation in a severely crowded Chinese car industry. The deal will combine divisions of Nio and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, with Nio also acquiring 10 percent of a separate Geely business. The transaction comes just two weeks after another Chinese automaker, Guangzhou Automobile Group, announced plans for a complex tie-up with First Automotive Works, a large manufacturer. Last year, two of the Chinese car industry’s giants, Dongfeng Motor and…

Vietnam’s leader is likely to warn of threats to middle powers.

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The podium of the United Nations was an unusual setting for the leader of a global superpower to threaten to “annihilate the Islamic republic” of Iran or to declare that, in another conflict, “to the victor belong the spoils.” Yet that was exactly what President Trump did on Tuesday, in threatening Iran if it failed to make a deal to end a war that had stretched far longer than Mr. Trump anticipated, and justifying his claims on Venezuelan oil reserves after American forces deposed its leader. Mr. Trump has long…

The Next China Shock Is Here

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This is an edited transcript of “The Ezra Klein Show.” You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts. The biggest economic story in the world right now is China’s growing dominance across advanced manufacturing sector after advanced manufacturing sector — from electric vehicles to batteries to solar panels to software like A.I. and open models, where they’ve become a world leader. What is happening here is very different than what we call the first China Shock, when China became a big exporter of things that were not…

China’s Export Boom Rolls On Despite Trade Backlash

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Another month, another trade surplus of more than $100 billion for China. Even as countries around the world move to curb the flood of Chinese goods, China’s export machine continues to steam ahead. The country posted a trade surplus of $112.5 billion in July, according to data released Friday by the General Administration of Customs. It was the third straight month in which China’s exports exceeded its imports by more than $100 billion — a staggering sum that puts the country on pace to surpass last year’s record $1.19 trillion…