Wall Street Journal (June 3)
“As exports of rare-earth magnets have virtually ground to a halt, carmakers face hard decisions about whether they can continue to keep some plants operating.” Major U.S. automakers are considering work arounds like “producing electric motors in Chinese factories or shipping made-in-America motors to China to have magnets installed.” If they do “end up shifting some production to China, it would amount to a remarkable outcome from a trade war initiated by President Trump with the intention of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.”
Tags: Automakers, Carmakers, China, Decisions, Electric motors, Exports, Factories, Halt, Manufacturing, Plants, Production, Rare-earth magnets, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Barron’s (June 2)
“China hit back at the U.S. early Monday, disputing President Donald Trump’s accusation that it’s failing to uphold its side of the bargain of the trade agreement reached last month…. The back-and-forth barbs are a bad sign for investors who were hoping that the trade war over tariffs was starting to de-escalate.”
Tags: Accusation, Back-and-forth, Barbs, China, De-escalate, Disputing, Investors, Tariffs, Trade agreement, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Fortune (May 24)
“Predictions that the dollar’s dominance will come to an end soon have proliferated since President Donald Trump launched his trade war,” but it’s not so simple. “Assets in other top economies like China, Japan and Europe still aren’t as attractive as those in the U.S.” while potential rivals also “suffer from governance or political headwinds.” Until another currency surmounts these issues, “global investors are faced with the familiar reality that there is still no alternative to the greenback, which has been the currency of choice for international payments and reserves for decades.”
Tags: Alternative, Assets, Attractive, China, Dollar, Dominance, Europe, Governance, Greenback, Headwinds, International payments, Investors, Japan, Political, Predictions, Rivals, Top economies, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
South China Morning Post (May 19)
“China’s economy mostly remained resilient in April, despite feeling the effects of the astronomical tariffs in place before last week, when Washington and Beijing agreed to remove or pause most of the duties imposed as part of their tempestuous trade war.” Though consumption softened, manufacturing fared better than expected. “China’s industrial output rose 6.1 per cent, beating estimates, while domestic consumption up 5.1 per cent–slightly below expectations.”
Tags: Agreed, April, Beijing, China, Consumption, Duties, Economy, Estimates, Industrial output, Manufacturing, Resilient, Tariffs, Trade war, Washington
Bloomberg (May 19)
“‘Sell America’ is back as Moody’s pushes 30-year yield to 5%.” Just a week after traders “had to react quickly to weekend news of an improvement in trade relations between the US and China,” they will again have to paddle hard, but this time in the opposite direction. Rising Treasury yields are also expected to “complicate the government’s ability to cut back by running up its interest payments, while also threatening to weaken the economy by forcing up rates on loans such as mortgages and credit cards.”
Tags: 5%, China, Economy, Government, Interest payments, Loans, Moody, Mortgages, Rates, Sell America, Threatening, Traders, Treasury yields, U.S., Weaken
Market Watch (May 17)
“President Donald Trump’s move to defuse an ugly trade war with China not only sparked a massive stock-market rally but also drove down the chances of a recession — for now.” Though it’s a welcome sign of relief, numerous obstacles remain. Nobody can rest assured. “Ongoing trade wars have not gone away, for one thing. Trump could change his mind or the U.S. could fail to strike more economic-friendly deals with China, after that 90-day pause, and other countries.” Moreover, the uncertainty has “made households and business hesitant to spend, hire and invest. Confidence has plunged in the past few months, and anxiety is unlikely to fade quickly.” U.S. growth remains likely “to taper off sharply this year.”
Tags: 90-day pause, China, Confidence, Deals, Defuse, Hire, Households, Invest, Obstacles, Recession, Relief, Spend, Stock-market rally, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Ugly, Uncertainty
Bloomberg (May 12)
“Xi Jinping’s decision to stand his ground against Donald Trump could hardly have gone any better for the Chinese leader…. The Trump administration’s retreat from sky-high tariffs wouldn’t have occurred if China hadn’t responded so forcefully, not only with retaliatory duties but also export controls and other steps.”
Tags: China, Decision, Duties, Export controls, Forcefully, Leader, Responded, Retaliatory, Retreat, Sky-high tariffs, Trump, U.S., Xi
Barron’s (May 12)
“The Nasdaq Composite entered a new bull market on Monday as the stock market surged after the U.S. and China agreed to ease back tariffs for 90 days. The tech-heavy index rallied 4.4%, closing more than 20% above its April 8 low to exit the bear market that began on April 4.” That wasn’t the only good news. “The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,161 points, or 2.8%, closing more than 10% above its April 8 low to exit a technical correction. The S&P 500 rallied 3.3%.”
Tags: Bear market, Bull market, China, Dow Jones, Ease, Nasdaq, Rallied, S&P 500, Stocks, Surged, Tariffs, Tech-heavy, Technical correction, U.S.
South China Morning Post (May 9)
“Hong Kong must wake up to the dangers of US port and shipping threats “ While the world obsesses about Donald Trump’s tariffs, “a quieter but potentially more lasting confrontation is taking shape that could remake global trade infrastructure.” The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) recently “concluded an investigation into China’s shipbuilding and maritime sectors” and “its impact on the global trade architecture could be just as profound. If Hong Kong is “to remain a serious player on the international stage, we must respond with urgency, clarity and conviction” to measures that could include “per-voyage service fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-controlled vessels calling at US ports, as well as proposed tariffs on Chinese-made ship-to-shore cranes and other key port equipment” while requiring that LNG carriers be US-built, “phasing out Chinese-made ships from the trade.”
Tags: China, Confrontation, Dangers, Global trade, Hong Kong, Infrastructure, Maritime, Per-voyage service fees, Port, Ship-to-shore cranes, Shipbuilding, Shipping threats, Tariffs, Trade Representative, Trump, U.S.
Financial Times (May 9)
“China’s exports grew sharply in April despite Donald Trump’s ‘liberation’ day tariffs on shipments to the US, strengthening Beijing’s hand ahead of crucial trade negotiations due to start this weekend.” Chinese companies were able to divert “trade flows to south-east Asia, Europe and other destinations following the imposition of prohibitively high tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies.” Though year on year exports to the U.S. dropped by 21% in April, China’s overall global exports increased 8.1%.”
Tags: April, Beijing, China, Divert, Europe, Exports, Liberation day, Shipments, South-east Asia, Tariffs, Trade negotiations, Trump, U.S.
