CNN (July 14)
“The Port of Los Angeles rebounded in June for a record-breaking month as importers raced to get cargo into the port before the ‘reciprocal’ tariff pause ended July 9…. President Donald Trump has since pushed that deadline to August 1.” The port, which “gets more goods from China than any other country,” benefitted from a “whipsaw” effect in June and with the tariff postponement is also expecting a flurry of activity in July. However, the National Retail Federation’s port tracker then expects a “fall by double digits through the end of the year.”
Tags: August, Cargo, China, Importers, June, Los Angeles, National Retail Federation, Port, Rebounded, Reciprocal tariff, Record breaking, Trump, Whipsaw
New York Times (July 8)
“China has overtaken Detroit as the center of the global auto industry. America can embark on an all-out push to rebuild world-class manufacturing and supply chains, or our carmakers can hide behind tariffs, continue making gas-powered trucks and S.U.V.s and fade into irrelevance.”
Tags: Auto industry, Carmakers, Center, China, Detroit, Gas-powered, Manufacturing, Overtaken, S.U.V.s, Supply chains, Tariffs, Trucks, U.S.
Economic Times (July 4)
“The Chinese government is signalling enough is enough when it comes to the fierce competition in the country’s electric car market.” The nation’s “industrial policy has engineered a remarkable transformation to electric vehicles in… the world’s largest auto market,” but it has also “spawned far more makers than can possibly survive.” The government is moving to address “long-simmering concerns about oversupply and debilitating price wars.” The government is now “cracking down… targeting unsustainable price wars led by market giant BYD.” Marking a first step “toward stabilising the market,” the government has introduced “a new pledge to pay suppliers within 60 days.”
Tags: BYD, China, Cracking down, Debilitating, EV market, Fierce competition, Government, Industrial policy, Oversupply, Price wars, Stabilising, Suppliers, Unsustainable
Inside EVs (June 30)
Ford CEO Jim Farley is impressed with China’s electric vehicle industry. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Summit, he said, “it’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen.” He recognizes that EVs in China are far more advanced, “They have far superior in-vehicle technology.” American technology “in most cars amounts to a media player, a navigation system and maybe some smart cruise control. China has pushed the envelope far beyond that.” They also offer a better price and better quality than U.S. cars. “Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West” said Farley who added, “We are in a global competition with China…. And if we lose this we do not have a future at Ford.”
Tags: Advanced, Aspen Ideas Summit, CEO, China, EV, Farley, Ford, Future, Global competition, Humbling, Impressed, Price, Quality, Technology, U.S.
New York Times (June 30)
China now dominates “even clean energy industries the United States had once led. In 2008 the United States produced nearly half of the world’s polysilicon, a crucial material for solar panels. Today, China produces more than 90 percent. China’s auto industry is now widely seen as the most innovative in the world, besting the Japanese, the Germans and the Americans.”
Tags: Auto industry, China, Clean energy, Dominates, Germany, Innovative, Japan, Polysilicon, Solar panels, U.S.
New York Times (June 18)
“China is unleashing a new export shock on the world.” Chinese goods, thwarted by Trump’s tariffs, are now “flooding countries from Southeast Asia to Europe to Latin America.” China does not seem to be following “the traditional trajectory of economies that move away from low-end manufacturing as they become more mature and developed.” Instead, it has doubled-down on manufacturing, which far exceeds domestic demand. As a result, the “countries that have borne the brunt of the jump in Chinese imports have also seen sharp declines in their own manufacturing, leading to job losses and bankruptcies.”
Tags: Bankruptcies, China, Chinese goods, Domestic demand, Doubled-down, Europe, Export shock, Flooding, Imports, Job losses, Latin America, Low-end manufacturing, Southeast Asia, Trajectory, Trump’s tariffs, Unleashing
The Interpreter (June 17)
“American influence in the Pacific is evaporating like wet footprints in the hot sun,” according to a recent survey of Australians. “The United States was already lagging behind China in 2024 (at 25 per cent versus China’s 34 per cent), but this year’s result shows only around half as many Australians think America holds the most influence in the Pacific (18 per cent) as those who think the same of China (34 per cent).”
Tags: 2024, Australians, China, Evaporating, Influence, Lagging, Pacific, Survey, U.S.
WARC (June 13)
“Alphabet, Amazon and Meta dominate the advertising market outside China: they’re set to account for 54.7% of that total in 2025 – equivalent to $524.4bn – rising to 56.2% in 2026. The introduction of AI stands to disrupt some ad revenue models, particularly in search, but Google’s dominance of that market will likely persist in the near term,” according to WARC’s Global Ad Forecast Q2 2025.
Tags: $524.4bn, 2025, 2026, Ad revenue, Advertising market, AI, Alphabet, Amazon, China, Disrupt, Dominance, Dominate, Global Ad Forecast, Google, Market, Meta, Persist
Washington Post (June 12)
“Trump miscalculated on China. Now the administration is trying to fix the mess.” The United States “started off with the economic upper hand, thanks to low unemployment, falling inflation and a strong global network of alliances,” but Trump “overplayed” his hand with China. As a result, “markets are volatile because of uncertainty. Recession fears loom.” Now, the “two nations have a chance for a reset. But both must recognize they remain mutually dependent.”
Tags: Administration, Alliances, China, Falling inflation, Global network, Low unemployment, Markets, Mess, Miscalculated, Mutually dependent, Overplayed, Recession fears, Reset, Trump, U.S., Uncertainty, Upper hand, Volatile
South China Morning Post (June 3)
“Hong Kong companies favour markets closer to home and in Southeast Asia to grow their businesses because of higher tariffs and other trade barriers in the US and Europe, according to a survey by HSBC, with many expressing confidence about their expansion plans.” Following the disruption of Trump tariffs, the new pivot is being “supported by Hong Kong and Beijing’s efforts to forge stronger ties with markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as US-China trade ties remain tense.”
Tags: Businesses, China, Companies, Confidence, Disruption, Europe, Expansion plans, Hong Kong, HSBC, Markets, Middle East, Pivot, Southeast Asia, Survey, Tariffs, Trade barriers, Trump, U.S.
