Page 30 - Us China Trade War

First time in 2 decades, Mexico overtakes China as leading exporter to US

For the first time in more than two decades, Mexico last year surpassed China as the leading source of goods imported to the United States. The shift reflects the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as US efforts to import from countries that are friendlier and closer to home. Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department show that the value of goods imported to the United States from Mexico rose nearly 5% from 2022 to 2023, to more than $475 billion. At the same time, the value of Chinese imports imports tumbled 20% to $427 billion. The last time that Mexican goods imported to the United States exceeded the value of China's imports was in 2002. Economic relations between the United States and China have severely deteriorated in recent years as Beijing has fought aggressively on trade and made ominous military gestures in the Far East. The Trump administration began imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in 2018, arguing that Beijing's trade practices

TikTok CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers regarding China connections

The grilling was held at a dramatic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the CEOs of major tech companies, who faced intense scrutiny over the potential harms of their platforms on teens

Beijing steps up military pressure on Taiwan after US, China announce talks

China sent more than 30 warplanes and a group of navy ships toward Taiwan, the island's defense ministry said Saturday. The military pressure comes on the heels of an announcement that senior American and Chinese representatives were expected to meet in the Thai capital as the two countries seek to cool tensions. The Chinese People's Liberation Army sent 33 aircraft, including SU-30 fighters, and six navy vessels around Taiwan, between 6 am Friday to 6 am Saturday. Of these, 13 warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait an unofficial boundary that's considered a buffer between the island and mainland. Taiwan has monitored the situation and employed its own forces in response to the activities. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and in recent years has shown is displeasure at political activities in Taiwan by sending military planes and ships. Taiwan said six Chinese balloons either flew over the island or through airspace just north of it days after the ...

US delegation affirms bipartisan support to Taiwan, first since election

A bipartisan delegation from the United States Congress reaffirmed support for Taiwan during a visit Thursday, following the election of its new president. The delegation's visit is the first from US lawmakers to the island since the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won a third-straight term in the Jan 13 presidential election. China, America's chief competitor for global influence, claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to use force to bring the self-ruling island under its control. Beijing strongly condemned Lai Ching-te's election and appears set to continue its policy of refusing to engage with the island's government - a practice that's been in place since Tsai Ing-wen's election in 2016. The support of the United States for Taiwan is firm. It's real, and it is 100% bipartisan," US Representative Mario Daz Balart said. Balart, a Florida Republican, was joined by California Democrat Ami Bera. In the 21st century, there's no place for aggressive action

US-China tech rivalry keeps South Korean chipmakers in costly limbo

While China is still by far South Korea's biggest trading partner, monthly exports to the US surpassed those to China for the first time in more than two decades

China buys near-record $40 bn of chip making gear to beat US curbs

Even before those curbs came into effect, Dutch company ASML Holding NV had canceled shipments of some of its top-of-the-line machines to China at the request of the US government

How Taiwan's election fits into the island's past, and its future

Voters chose as their next president Lai Ching-te, the current vice president, who has vowed to continue his party's policy of protecting the island's sovereignty

China's exports rise, but deflation persists as economy enters 2024

Analysts also anticipate that interest rates will drop at least 1.5 percentage points in the United States and Europe this year, which should improve demand for imported goods

China seen using threats, money and pressure to influence Taiwan elections

Using military threats, diplomatic pressure, fake news and financial inducements for politicians, China is being accused of deploying a broad strategy to influence voters in Taiwan's elections to pick candidates who favor unification. China's ultimate goal is to take control of the self-governing island democracy, whose high-tech economy supplies key components for computers, cellphones and other electronic devices and ships much of the world's goods out from the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has long insisted Taiwan is part of China and must be regained, by military force if necessary, regardless of the views of the island's people. Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says China's global objective is that they want to use Taiwan as a test ground. If they are able to successfully shape the results of the Taiwan elections, they will try to apply their tactics on other countries. China has been sending warships and fighter jets near Taiwan on a near-daily basis in recent years, hoping to ..

How does a Taiwan election work? Everything you need to know about it

Taiwan's three main parties contesting the election are the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), only set up in 2019

Taiwan says Chinese balloons are harassment and a threat to air safety

Taiwan's Defence Ministry accused China on Saturday of harassment and trying to affect public morale by repeatedly sending balloons over the self-governing island. A ministry analysis found that the paths of the balloons posed a serious threat to international passenger flights, according to a report by Taiwan's official Military News Agency. The ministry called for an immediate end to the activity to ensure flight safety. The ministry urged the people (of Taiwan) to clearly understand the Chinese Communist Party's cognitive combat methods and face it rationally and calmly so as to avoid being affected by it, the report said. The purpose of the balloons is unclear, and a Chinese state media outlet has accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwanese and American media of hyping what it says are harmless weather balloons. The balloon incidents come ahead of a January 13 presidential election in Taiwan in which the island's relations with China are a major ...

US companies picky about investing in China, but keen on burgers, lattes

There's been no shortage of tough news for China's economy as some of the world's biggest brands consider or take action to shift manufacturing to friendlier shores at a time of unease about security controls, protectionism and wobbly relations between Beijing and Washington. Count Adidas, Apple and Samsung among those looking elsewhere. But as a tumultuous 2023 for the Chinese economy comes to a close, there has been at least one bright spot for Beijing when it comes to foreign investment: American fast-food chains have decided a market of 1.4 billion people is simply too delicious to pass up. KFC China's parent company opened its 10,000th restaurant in China last month and aims to have stores within reach of half of China's population by 2026. McDonald's is planning to open 3,500 new stores in China over the next four years. And Starbucks invested $220 million in a manufacturing and distribution facility in eastern China, its biggest project outside the U.S. This is surely not wh

China turns up heat on trade with rare earth tech export restrictions

The US is spearheading a drive to reduce China's stranglehold over flows of these minerals, from rare earths to lithium and cobalt.

US Congress bars Pentagon from utilising Chinese port logistics platform

The US Congress has approved a measure prohibiting the Pentagon from using any seaport worldwide reliant on the Chinese logistics platform LOGINK, the Voice of America (VOA) reported

Janet Yellen to visit China again in 2024, to focus on 'difficult' topics

Yellen emphasized the importance of using her exchanges with China to gather information about the world's second-largest economy

House panel urges tougher rules for China, raising chance of more tariffs

A special House committee focused on China is calling for altering the way the US treats Chinese-made goods, possibly subjecting them to higher tariffs even if its risks increased tensions between the two economic superpowers. The report does not specifically call for repealing China's preferential trade status, but it does recommend placing China in a new trading category that some liken to a de facto repeal. The committee's chairman said he envisions a process where Congress would determine regularly which economic sectors would be subject to higher tariffs and which would see lower tariffs. Lawmakers in both parties endorsed the proposal, a reflection of the growing willingness in Congress to build on the tariffs enacted during Donald Trump's presidency, even if it risks retaliatory actions from China that would harm many farmers, ranchers and US exporters. The committee crafted the recommendation after several months of deliberation and hearings. Members hope that the nearly 150

Joe Biden, Xi Jinping have far to go if they want to lift cold war clouds

After four hours of talks on Wednesday, the US and Chinese presidents offered a glimpse of just how hard it's going to be to manage their relationship away from that course.

APEC summit: China courts Indo-Pacific leaders amid stiff US competition

Chinese President Xi Jinping, fresh off his meeting with President Joe Biden, courted Indo-Pacific leaders in a flurry of meetings on Thursday at a time of intensifying competition with the United States. Xi held individual talks with the leaders of Mexico, Peru, and Fiji, and he planned a later session with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, all on the sidelines of a summit of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation economies. In a meeting with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, Xi said the two countries should strengthen economic and trade cooperation and pledged China's support for Peru as host of next year's summit of APEC leaders. In particular, Xi said, China will be willing to import more premium agricultural products from the South American country and will encourage Chinese businesses to participate in major projects in Peru. Earlier, Xi held talks with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, praising the Mexican president for his leadership and reform efforts and pledging to bring the

US moves to limit access to advanced chips hurt supply chains: China

China vigorously protested Wednesday the US Commerce Department's latest update of export controls to prevent exports to China of advanced computer chips and the equipment to make them. The revisions to the US rules were announced Tuesday, roughly a year after the export controls were first launched to counter the use of the chips for military applications that include the development of hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence. China's Commerce Ministry said the controls were improper and urged that Washington lift them as soon as possible. It said that since the semiconductor industry is highly globalised, the restrictions on chips used for artificial intelligence and other advanced applications were hindering normal trade and economic activities. They violate international trade rules and seriously threaten the stability of industrial supply chains, it said according to a transcript of a briefing on the ministry's website. US semiconductor companies have suffered huge lo

China challenging US superpower status is 'not inevitable': Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday told a delegation of influential American senators that the Thucydides Trap is not inevitable as he played down the concerns in Washington that China is out to challenge the superpower status of the US. Thucydides Trap is a term to describe an emerging power threatening to displace the existing great power. Competition and confrontation are not consistent with the trend of the times. Still less can it fix one's own problems and address the challenges facing the world, Xi told a US Senate delegation headed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer during a meeting. China maintains that the common interests of the two countries far outweigh their differences, and the respective success of China and the US is an opportunity, rather than a challenge, to each other, Xi told the six-member delegation of top American legislators. "The Thucydides Trap is not inevitable, and Planet Earth is vast enough to accommodate the respective development and common