Displaying items by tag: Exports

(Beijing)

Markets are taking bad news out of China hard. New data out of Beijing shows that the country’s exports dropped sharply in December. The figures suggest a global slowdown, and a brutal trade war with the US are taking their toll on the Chinese economy. Exports fell a whopping 4.4%. China also held a $323 bn trade surplus with the US, the largest since 2006. Imports fell 7.6%, showing how much the slowdown in China was affecting demand. Car sales in in the country also declined for the first time since 1990.

FINSUM: The tariffs are working, but there is a larger issue at stake—the US and the world’s relationship to China. There is a lot of strain being put on the country, and we are concerned about how the government there will react.

(Washington)

The US and China ended two days of trade war negotiations yesterday, and apparently there was little progress. Both sides pressed ahead with enforcing $16 bn of further tariffs on one another. The deputy White House Press Secretary commented at the end of the negotiations that the two countries “exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance and reciprocity in the economic relationship”, but made no mention of any material progress being made. One senior Trump administration official added “in order to get a positive result out of these engagements, it’s really critical that they address the fundamental concerns that we have raised. We haven’t seen that yet”.

FINSUM: While the market seemed very hopeful about these talks, the trade battle with China looks likely to keep going for a while yet as the issue seems to be quite intractable.

(Washington)

In a cruel twist of fate, guess who the biggest losers are when a country imposes tariffs on imports? Its own exporters. The reason why seems to be two-fold. Firstly, the tariffs on imports take cash away from foreign countries to buy exports. Secondly, such tariffs often lead to retaliations, which then shrink the size of exports (e.g. what is happening to Harley Davidson right now). The link has been well understood by economists for almost a century, but new research shows it concretely in trade flows. Overall, the trade balance does tend to improve, but exporters suffer significantly.

FINSUM: The problem is that trade wars are almost a zero sum game. That said, the US has a better bargaining position than usual in this one.