Trade war

Americans’ views on China have fallen to their lowest level since an annual poll started asking the question in 2005, according to survey results released Tuesday. The poll last month by the Washington think tank Pew Research Center found 66% of respondents held an unfavorable view of China, up from 47% in 2017 when President Donald Trump took office. And a large majority of the 1,000 Americans polled said they lacked confidence in President Xi Jinping to do the right thing when it came to global affairs, a steep increase since last year. The results come as the relationship between the two economic giants has deteriorated rapidly during the coronavirus outbreak. The two countries are engage

Hardliners within the Trump administration are trying desperately to avoid reducing tariffs on imported medical supplies from China, hoping to stave off mounting pressure from health care workers and a panicked public as the coronavirus death toll mounts. After an extended US-China trade war and President Donald Trump’s signing of an initial agreement in December, hawks within the administration are loath to set a precedent.  Their concern is that emergency concessions could undercut their hawkish trade stance toward Beijing, which Trump sees as a cornerstone accomplishment leading up to the November elections, say former officials and analysts. “There will be inexorable pressure to relax t

The phase one trade deal between China and the US, signed on January 15, signaled a truce in the trade war. This is a welcome development, not only for the two countries but also for the rest of the world. It is expected to usher in a period of relative calm and reduced uncertainty, which should increase both investment and consumption globally.  However, it is not a net win for either country, even though they are both better off with the truce. They have both suffered economic losses from the mutual tariffs. In fact, China’s estimated loss in gross domestic product is higher than that of the United States, in both absolute and relative terms. Unfortunately, the conclusion of the phase one

In 2017, China told the world it planned to become a world leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Two years later, that promise came to dominate the Chinese, if not the global, conversation about technology. At a conference this past May, John Kerry, the former US secretary of state, said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement was not the “wisest” move. “It would have probably been smart to go try to do it and not announce [the plan], because the announcement was heard in Washington and elsewhere,” he said. His words foreboded a storm approaching Chinese AI firms. Reports days later indicated Washington was considering placing several Chinese surveillance companies on the US Entity Li

The US and China have reached consensus on the terms of a “phase one” trade deal, multiple US media outlets have reported. Intended to be the first in a series of incremental agreements to resolve the trade war, the deal has the approval of US President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported, citing several unnamed people briefed on the matter. As part of the agreement, the US would not only postpone tariffs on around $160 billion of Chinese goods scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, but also make cuts in duties already in place, Myron Brilliant of the US Chamber of Commerce told CNBC, citing US administration sources who had briefed him on the plans. Neither the White House nor the Office of th

China’s former commerce minister has issued a strong rebuff against “unthinkable” suggestions that the world’s two largest economies could disengage from each other due to the ongoing tensions caused by the trade war, with Chen Deming saying: “To hell with decoupling!” The US and China have found themselves linked for the past 40 years, but with the 18-month trade war having led to the straining of the relationship, suggestions have been made that a broader economic and technological decoupling could happen. “Is globalization falling into ‘hemispherization’ or is the whole process halted? Whoever insists on decoupling …. will fall behind and even be phased out in the advancement of science a

Looking out over her small restaurant in Huizhou city on the north of the Pearl River Delta, known to be the beating heart of China’s manufacturing industry, Li Bing can still picture the hustle and bustle of a throng of customers from a nearby factory. But now, as Li looks up from her broom, she is gr eeted by empty tables, a sight that has been familiar for the last two months, and one that is replicated around the local industrial complex, located in the southern Chinese province of Guandong.  The reason behind the downturn is simple: the closure of Samsung’s complex in Huizhou, which until October was the South Korean company’s last smartphone factory in China. Li’s restaurant had bene

Shanghai-based fruit importer Lucas Liu is on the front line of the US-China trade war. The cost of American cherries, for example, has risen by roughly half, prompting him to cut back on what he orders from the US. Liu, who sells American fruit to Chinese consumers, is continuing to buy from the US to maintain his long-standing relationships with his suppliers – but he is also looking elsewhere. This month he is planning a trip to Uzbekistan to assess the possibilities for cherry plantations there. “I am buying much less than last year, but I won’t stop buying from American suppliers,” he said. “Turkey, Canada and Central Asia have quickly made up the shortfall as alternative suppliers.” T

The southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen sits on the front line in the tech war between the US and China. We talked to some residents of the city to see what they have to say about rising US-China tensions. Watch the video above.

A rapidly spreading pest is threatening to further ravage China’s domestic food security within the next two months. The fall armyworm, which grows up to be a moth, has already affected farms in southern China, and could hit the country’s crop-growing heartlands in the north and northeast as temperatures rise. It increases the risks to crop production, at a time when trade tariffs are restricting China’s ability to purchase American agriculture products as replacements. To compound matters, China’s food supply was already under pressure after it was forced to slaughter millions of pigs with African swine fever affecting all 31 autonomous regions and provinces within just nine months, trimmin