Since 2022, Chinese authorities have made more efforts to revive the troubled property market, which is a major force behind the world’s second-largest market, but a lasting recovery has a proven to be challenging. Authorities pledged at a Politburo meeting last month to strengthen policies in order to clean theContinue Reading
Prices pushed over by issue, tariffs
PUBLISHED: 17 May 2024 at 05: 26
Producers of Thai betel nuts are dealing with price obstacles from India as well as the effects of the military conflict between the Myanmar government and rebel forces.
According to a betel nuts farmer in Phatthalung’s Tamot area, dried betel nuts are being sold to local villagers for 8, 10 or 12 ringgit per kilogram during the recent harvest time, based on the moisture content. A pricey with a small water content.
Betel beans from Phatthalung’s Kong Ra region are exported for 17 baht/kg while those from Songkhla grab a value of 15 baht/kg.
” In past decades, the costs were as high as 50- 60 baht”, a farmer said. Betel beans, also known as areca beans, are chewed for their energizing results.
Betel nuts chewing is popular in some Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. Additionally, the nuts fall under the category of cancer that can lead to teeth cancers.
According to a cause, the fighting in Myanmar and India’s high tariffs are the two main driving forces behind the price decline. According to the source, the armed conflict in Myanmar has hampered export that, making traders have to pay large fees in “facilitation fees” to cross the border to find their goods, the source said.
” As a result, investors have to force producers to sell their products at lower rates to offset the cost bills”, the source said.
In response to the impact of international imports, India, a big importer of cardamom nuts, has also tightened betel nut imports to protect local industries.
Exports of natural and powdered betel nuts were fair 2.55 billion ringgit in 2013, according to Dares Kittiyopas, leader of the Thai Society of Agricultural Engineering. More than half the products, or 54.6 %, were exported to Myanmar, followed by Vietnam ( 18.6 % ), Bangladesh ( 11.9 % ) and India ( 7.3 % ), she said.
Dried betel beans are exported to Myanmar, and the majority of them are re-exported to India and Bangladesh, she said. India is the world’s largest producer and buyer of areca bonkers, she said. Currently, the tariff on the import of areca nuts to India is US$ 8, 140 ( 294, 000 baht ) per tonne, and the basic customs duty is 100 % ad- valorem.
The import of areca nuts is prohibited if the cost, insurance and freight ( CIF ) value is below 351 rupees ( 153 baht ) per kilogramme, except when imported by 100 % export- oriented units and units in the special economic zone, subject to the condition that no domestic tariff area (DTA ) sales are allowed.
Betel nuts traders are being forced to pay higher customs duties, according to Ms. Dares, as a result of the fighting in Myanmar. Since June next month, Bangladesh and India have even banned the transfer of areca nuts from Myanmar, which affects Thai exports, which are typically transported through those nations, she said.
She recommended that the federal talk with India to end the interventionist measures imposed by the Asean-India Free Trade Agreement, the Thai-India Free Trade Agreement, and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, to which Thailand and India are parties.
The government may even acquire exporting betel nuts to new areas such as the UK and the UAE where demand is higher among refugees from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Asia and Africa, she said.
China is considering a nationwide initiative to reduce supply in real estate markets by urging local institutions to buy from frightened property developers ‘ empty properties.
According to Bloomberg, the State Council is seeking suggestions from various regions and government organizations regarding a proposal that may require local institutions to purchase millions of homes that have already been sold.
The People’s Bank of China’s proposed trial scheme, which set aside 100 billion yuan ($ 13.85 billion ) for special lending to local governments in eight cities, would use the funds to purchase unsold properties for use in local subsidized rental programs, in February 2023.  ,
The eight places are Chongqing, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Changchun, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Qingdao and Tianjin.  ,
The city government in Lin’An, Hangzhou, announced on Tuesday that it would buy some 10, 000 square feet of private residences and convert them into rental accommodation units.  ,
The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee meeting on April 30 recommended a global home-purchase program, which would promote high-quality property development, reform the country’s house development model, and promote high-quality property market development.  ,
The meeting made reference to what it called the urgent need to evaluate the supply and demand dynamics in the real estate markets in order to meet the expectations of consumers.
On Friday night, the State Council will hold a video seminar with senior representatives from the cover government, economic officials, local institutions, and banks to explain the housing market.  ,
According to Wang Yi, mind of the Asia Pacific real estate team at Goldman Sachs Research, “it may take a month from now to reduce sellable products to a stage that the business would probably perceive as “balance,” without government interference. We think that a persistent decline in housing prices could result in a negative feedback loop caused by further contractions in credit supply and overall demand.
She claims that as of the end of last year, the inventory of residential properties in mainland China was estimated to be costing about 30 trillion yuan ( US$ 4 trillion ). She claims that the cost of fully building that property will be ten times the amount of housing stock at the end of 2023, or one-fourth of the total.  ,
She claims that there is a significant inventory overhang because the industry needs to be fully funded to return to its pre-normal operating levels in 2024.
If they have 20 % down payments, local governments ‘ urban investment firms can borrow bank loans at a 3 % interest rate to purchase unsold homes, according to the trial program in eight Chinese cities.
However, such a deal is not very attractive because rental yields can typically be just around 3 %. And if home prices decline, urban investment firms could lose money.  ,
As of early this year, loans totaling only 4.1 billion yuan have been taken out in four projects.
The trial program’s progress, according to Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Planning Institute’s residential policy research center, is slow because urban investment companies are reluctant to enter markets in a property down cycle.  ,
He suggested that urban investment firms could begin by purchasing some of the unsold properties in a project that has already sold more than 70 % of its apartments, allowing the developers to move on and concentrate on creating new ones.  ,
An urban investment firm can try to arrange for the existing buyers to purchase elsewhere, he said, and then it can immediately buy the project. A project can only have sold a small number of its apartments.
” Whether the government’s plan to reduce property inventory will succeed depends on the demand side”, said Yan Yuejin, research director of Shanghai E- House Real Estate Research Institute. ” The overall pace of inventory reduction remains slow, despite the gradual increase in property sales.
Yan claimed that property developers have delayed their marketing plans as a result of the slow property demand. He claimed that 55 % of the new homes for sale in the top-tier cities ‘ markets were launched in 2023 or earlier, compared to 68 % in third-tier cities.  ,
Some analysts believe that local governments ‘ home-purchase initiatives must be combined with a number of other supportive measures to demonstrate some effects.  ,
Other ways to reduce property inventory, according to Zhang Bo, director of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, include urging homeowners to relocate to larger homes and lowering purchase restrictions.  ,
In April, dozens of Chinese cities made the announcements of their “new properties for old” initiatives, which promise to buy homeowners ‘ existing properties as soon as they move into new ones.  ,
Since May 9, a dozen second- tier cities including Hangzhou, Xian and Fosan have announced, separatelly, their decisions to cancel their property purchase limits – most of which have been implemented for more than a decade.  ,
It means that people can now purchase as many properties as they want in most second-tier cities. Shanghai and Beijing, two of the top tier cities, still have purchase restrictions in place to stop speculative activity.  ,  ,
Over the past one week, shares of most property developers, including the heavily- indebted ones, have surged significantly.  ,
Shimao Group Holdings ‘ stock increased by 160 % to close at HK$ 1.25 from May 8. China Aoyuan shares are now 26 HK cents, which is a double increase.
Agile Group’s shares increased 42 % over the past week after the announcement of the default of its publicly issued dollar bonds on Tuesday.  ,
Read: Unleashed bank deposits misused in Chinese economy
Follow Jeff Pao on X:  , @jeffpao3
Golden Gate Ventures, a venture capital fund founded by Silicon Valley natives, announced its first US$ 100 million ( RM468 million ) MENA fund at the Qatar Economic Forum held from May 14 to 16 in Doha. The second close of US$ 20 million ( RM93.66 million ) is backed by anchor investor, the multiple- faceted Al Khor Holding with 60 years of history, the Al Attiya Group known frequently for its tremendous help for developing local organizations, and Sheikh Jassim Jabor Al Thani.
The news of the first tight supported by the arches of Qatar’s private business community is a significant step forward in Golden Gate Ventures ‘ efforts to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the MENA area. The bank combines Golden Gate Ventures ‘ extensive experience with developing startups ecosystems in Silicon Valley and Asia with the collective local effect of its owners.
Oman was drawn to the VC firm because of their track record in developing the SEA business ecosystem. The first global venture capital fund to be established and managed in Qatar is the Golden Gate Ventures MENA Fund I. Michael Lints, Partner at Golden Gate Ventures, has moved to Qatar to strengthen the firm’s MENA responsibility.
The US$ 100 million MENA fund may focus on powering startups in vital sectors such as alternate energy, clean technology, B2B Artificial Intelligence, and energy- related strong tech, on top of stalwarts like fintech, healthtech and edtech. In these areas, SEA has seen huge growth and has launched some well-known Investments in the last ten years. The relationship between MENA and SEA is expected to have a multiplier impact on their progress, and its direction is anticipated to follow that of SEA.
Qatar has been building up its financial prowess and startup ecosystem in recent years with a friendly government, a powerful push for financial diversification, a pro- business environment, and large investment into the startup space. These tactics closely resemble those used in Singapore, which helped the city-state’s startup ecosystem <a href="https://www.startupblink.com/startup-ecosystem/singapore”>rank first in the SEA and second globally.
Qatar is emerging as a growing hub for innovation, and MENA is emerging as a shining example of progress. I remember when Golden Gate Ventures established itself ahead of the other VCs that came after in Singapore in 2011. We see a real opportunity to help startups move from one region to the next by creating a golden corridor of growth between SEA and MENA. We connected Silicon Valley to SEA close to 15 years ago, and now we do so with a presence in all the major global startup hubs,” said Vinnie Lauria, founding partner at Golden Gate Ventures.
In fact, several high- profile startups on Golden Gate Ventures ‘ portfolio have expanded to the Gulf, among which are CodaPay, Stripe and Multiplier. The firm’s extensive CEO exploratory trips over the past 18 months, which have introduced SEA startups to the Gulf markets and helped them build their social capital, have given them this ability to scale to the Gulf from SEA and Singapore.
Golden Gate Ventures ‘ SEA-MENA partnership began with QInvest, a state fund with Qatar as an LP in its Asia fund, in the early days. As the SEA ecosystem matures and the MENA ecosystem grows as a potential global competitor, the firm anticipates more activity between the regions.
” Golden Gate Ventures has spent close to a decade curating our networks in the Middle East and developing our long-term strategy for the region with the aim of growing both SEA and MENA together synergistically. We have connected the startup ecosystems in MENA and the SEA and hope to expand this. There are opportunities for startups to scale between the regions and a number of complementary growth areas, such as climate tech, health tech, and edtech,” said Michael.
Golden Gate Ventures also announced the launch of its Qatar startup ecosystem primer,” Qatar Rising: Where ambition and capital converge,” at the company’s announcement of the MENA Fund I. It serves as an industry primer and provides an in-depth analysis of how various factors, including the Gulf state’s robust economic policy, investment climate, startup ecosystem, talent pool, and cultural influence, have all come together.
Golden Gate Ventures has seen remarkable growth over the past two years, expanding its footprint with the opening of its Vietnam operations in 2022 to capitalize on its position as a leading global economy, opening an office in Saudi Arabia in 2023 to exploit opportunities in the Middle East-Southeastern Asia corridor, and adding a New York presence recently to assist portfolio companies in raising funds from the region.
Joe Biden is about to impose 100 % tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. A 100 % tax is an absolutely , huge , price. In order to be dynamic, Chinese EV manufacturers would have to buy their vehicles in the US for half the cost of those produced elsewhere. That just is n’t going to happen.
A 100 % price will probably suffice to keep essentially made-in-China Vehicles out of the US. The Rhodium Group just came out with a record called” Ain’t No Duty High Enough”, arguing that Europe would have 40- 50 % tariffs to preserve Chinese EVs up:
In the upcoming months, the European Commission is likely to impose countervailing duties on imports of electric vehicles ( EV ) from China to reduce the chance of subsidized cars causing harm to Europe’s auto industry. We expect the Commission to implement jobs in the 15- 30 % variety.
Some China-based suppliers will still be able to gain secure profit margins on the vehicles they export to Europe because of the significant cost savings they enjoy, even if the jobs come in at the higher end of this range.
Jobs in the 40- 50 % range—arguably actually higher for vertically integrated producers like BYD—would perhaps become necessary to make the German market unattractive for Chinese EV exporters. Policymakers in Brussels may choose to use unconventional means to protect the German automobile industry, including restrictions based on environmental or national security-related considerations, because competing duties at this stage are doubtful.
Well, Rhodium is right that non- tariff barriers — basically, sneakily crafted regulation that foreign products ca n’t satisfy but domestic products can — are pretty effective in shutting out imports. They may be correct in saying that Europe will not be politically able to have 40 to 50 % tariffs. But Biden’s new tariff is , double , the rate Rhodium mentions. All Chinese EV exports to the US will be destroyed by that.
Now, nuking all Chinese EV exports to the US will result in essentially , zero change , to anyone’s life. The reason is that China currently exports almost no EVs to the US:
So if you’re an American, you were n’t buying a Chinese EV yesterday, and now you’re not going to buy one tomorrow either. For you, nothing will change.
But that does n’t mean these tariffs are performative. They are preventative, in essence. In the past we’ve seen examples of where China suddenly floods the US or other countries with a massive amount of a certain export product— for example,  , excavators. This wo n’t happen with EVs, thanks to Binden’s tariff.
So is that good or bad? Are tariffs going to increase living costs for Americans? Will Biden’s move give a boost to the US auto industry? Will the green transition be slowed down? What does this mean for US trade policy going forward?
I’ll try to respond to those inquiries.
Will the tariffs on Chinese EVs make life more expensive for Americans?
The simple answer to” No” is that the answer is contained in the above chart. Americans were n’t buying any Chinese EVs, so doubling the price of Chinese EVs is n’t going to make Americans pay more for anything.
What the tariff , might  do now is stop a foreseeable, cheap EV bbq from reaching America’s shores. It’s possible that if Biden had done nothing, China would have flooded the US with bargain- price high- quality EVs.
And then a few Americans who are stressed out about high interest rates and the cost of groceries might have been able to relax by purchasing a subpar, high-quality Chinese-made electric car.
And Chinese EVs are  , very , good. China has struggled to produce high-quality internal combustion engines, but the transition to EVs has made it completely different from ICE vehicles. Since China dominates the battery industry, mastering EVs was easy.
Despite having some of the histrionic hand-wringing” We’re cooked,” etc., Kevin Williams has a long article about the high quality of Chinese electric cars. Williams ‘ conclusion is spot on:
It does n’t feel like it will lead to better cars if the US and Europe get what they want, a ban on Chinese imports. It feels like it would keep buyers of those markets locked to cars that are n’t executed as well.
It’s blatantly protectionist because, in the long run, all Western auto executives and some hawkish China experts agree that Chinese EV and PHEV models are more compelling than those from European, Asian, and American manufacturers.
This is correct. And it’s reasonable to worry that stodgy old companies like GM and Ford — and even Tesla — will have far less reason to copy creative Chinese features like screen-based controls without the pressure from Chinese imports. American consumers could end up with a dowdier, lower- quality selection of vehicles.
For one simple reason, I do n’t believe that will happen, though:  , Chinese car companies do n’t have to manufacture their cars there.
Tariffs are applied based on where final assembly for a good takes place. Therefore, BYD or other Chinese carmakers can still sell EVs to the US without being affected by Biden’s new tariff if they set up their factories in America, Mexico, Canada, or anywhere else. This is , already in progress:
Chinese automaker BYD has made a global expansion push toward Mexico as its goal. Building cars in Mexico would help the automakers avoid high import tariffs if they were to ship them directly from China.
Chinese- owned car factories in Mexico will be able to take advantage of Chinese supply chains (especially batteries ), driving down their cost. They will create creative Chinese designs that Kevin Williams adores. And they will incorporate whatever assembly- line innovations Chinese factories have discovered, driving costs down even further.
Americans will still be able to purchase” Chinese” electric vehicles, but not from Chinese factories. That’s fine. Mexico needs the workers and income, American consumers could use some affordable, futuristic cars, and American automakers could use the competition.
An open question is to what degree China’s government will decide to subsidize Chinese- owned factories in Mexico. Theoretically, China could use all the same policy levers, such as tax credits, cheap loans, direct payments, etc., to encourage Chinese companies to import cheap cars from Mexican factories.
Whether it’ll actually do that is another question entirely — China’s government may want to keep manufacturing jobs in the country, and thus be leery of subsidizing FDI. So we’ll see.
But even without subsidies, Chinese companies do indeed make cheap good EVs, and Americans will still be able to get their hands on them under the new tariff regime.
Of course, this becomes even more difficult when tariffs are also applied to EVs produced in Mexico and other third nations. In fact, Trump is , already threatening this:
Trump warned that Chinese companies would try to build cars in Mexico before avoiding tariffs by bringing them into the US under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump accepted as president. Trump said he’d put a 200 % tariff on Chinese- made cars in Mexico.
American consumers could be permanently locked out of the market for cutting-edge EVs if the tariffs are expanded to include third nations like Mexico. At that point, the only way for Chinese car companies to avoid the tariffs would be to make their cars in the United States.
Japanese companies did that successfully. But Chinese companies might be , reluctant to do that, or their government might stop them from doing it. So we’ll see.
What do the tariffs mean for the US auto industry?
With the introduction of Biden’s tariffs, U.S. carmakers like GM and Ford will have a temporary respite from a potential wave of Chinese import competition. But unless Biden — or a future President Trump — put tariffs on EVs made in Mexico as well, the respite will be short- lived, because GM and Ford will still face brand competition from Chinese automakers in their domestic market.
That competition wo n’t just affect GM and Ford’s nascent EV business; it will also affect their entire business. ICE cars and EVs are in direct competition with each other. In the long run, EVs are preferred over ICE cars due to a number of structural factors. These include:
I argued in a post last year that EVs are going to replace ICE cars and that the transition will start right away.
ICE cars have to fill up often, unlike EVs, which charge overnight in people’s garages and so only have to visit charging stations on long trips. Therefore, to be viable, ICE cars need a sizable network of gas stations.
As EVs start to take over the market and ICE cars become rarer, many of our existing gas stations will go out of business. That will make the transition to EVs more difficult, causing the shift to become less convenient. Rinse and repeat.
Once this process starts, gas-powered vehicles will start to become a niche product, and EVs will be the vehicles most people will drive.
Right now, that is n’t happening. The US automakers are scaling back their EV plans because the market for EVs is still growing, but not as quickly as many had anticipated.
But most Americans — except for a hard core of conservatives who have turned green technology into a culture war — expect to get an EV in the not- too- distant future:
If GM and Ford scale back their offerings, and if Tesla focuses on robotaxis instead of new better EVs, then there’s a high likelihood that the EV revolution in America will be carried out by Chinese companies building cars in Mexico.
If tariffs are not imposed on Mexico and any other nation, then they wo n’t stop that, and Chinese automakers wo n’t build US factories.
And there’s something else that , no , US tariff can stop: American car companies getting outcompeted in export markets.
Ford generates the majority of its revenue from North America, but GM generates the same amount of revenue in Asia as does Tesla. U. S. tariffs obviously do not apply to Chinese EVs being sold to Vietnam, or Japan, or Australia, or anywhere else except the US.
They will also do absolutely nothing to hinder US automakers ‘ ability to compete in important foreign markets. Many of those other countries are unlikely to put up giant Biden- style tariffs on Chinese EVs, so GM and Ford and Tesla will be facing BYD and the other Chinese automakers on a more- or- less level playing field overseas ( except in China itself, where the government will tip the scales in favor of its own domestic brands ).
Thus, Chinese competition could force American and other automakers to leave domestic markets. That would exacerbate the existing trend:
Whether or not there are tariffs, US car companies are in grave danger, like European, Japanese, and Korean car companies. The EV transition is happening, and China is the best at EVs. They are, in the words of Kevin Williams,” cooked” unless they can raise their game.
Will the tariffs slow down the green transition?
Many people are concerned that these tariffs will stifle the transition to a low-carbon future powered by solar energy and batteries. For example,  , David Fickling writes:
China’s growing lead in clean technology and its vast trade surplus are combining with its sluggish efforts to decarbonize developed nations to create a toxic mix. [An acceleration in trade wars will only slow our path to zero carbon. ]
He’s right to worry. Nearly 30 % of the US’s carbon emissions, or about 4 % of the global total, are caused by transportation. If the US fails to switch to EVs, it could hamper decarbonization efforts by a small but noticeable amount.
There is n’t much to worry about here, as I previously mentioned, if tariffs are only applied to EVs produced in China. Americans will still switch to EVs, they’ll just buy their Chinese- brand EVs from factories in Mexico. The transition to green will be swift.
If the US places tariffs on , all , foreign EVs, though, we could be in trouble. A GM and Ford decision to ignore the EV transition ( and Tesla’s transition to robotaxis ) would then allow America to remain a gas-guzzling nation, clinging to our outdated comfort cars, orphaned from global technology, and locked out of the high-tech future.
And if Republicans turn EVs into a culture war the way they’ve done with , lab- grown meat, they could enact restrictive state- level policies that would slow the transition even further.
I’m concerned about the US’s green transition, but it heavily depends on whether the US imposes tariffs on Mexican-made electric vehicles.
What does this mean for trade policy going forward?
The most crucial aspect of these tariffs probably is the message that they send. Protectionism is now the consensus economic policy of both major political parties in the United States.
Trump is trying to one-up Biden by promising to raise the 100 % tariffs to 200 %, extend them to Mexico, and impose an additional 60 % tariff on all Chinese-made goods after Biden extended the Trump tariffs and levied the new EV tariffs.
There is currently no major party or presidential candidate that you can vote for in America that is even remotely interested in free trade. Still, that raises a lot of questions. Most importantly, there’s the question of what, exactly, protectionism is trying to , protect. I see four of the main potential uses for tariffs:
The first of these is probably foremost in the minds of many progressives, and possibly Trump as well. On the plus side, labor protectionists would be happy if Chinese automakers were persuaded to establish their factories in the US like Japanese automakers did.
GM and Ford would still be mad, and they’d probably have some supporters in Congress, but the prospect of a whole bunch of good American manufacturing jobs in BYD or Geely factories would probably win out.
Everyone talks about the second of these, which is reducing trade imbalances.  , Articles about the Second China Shock , usually mention things like Chinese underconsumption, overcapacity, and trade imbalances.
A report from The Rhodium Group called” Overcapacity at the Gates” effectively sums up the viewpoint. The two most well- known commentators on this issue— or at least, the two I read the most — are  , Brad Setser , and , Michael Pettis, so if you want to learn more about this idea, check them out.
It’s unclear whether trade imbalances on their own constitute a real concern or whether they’re a catch-all proxy for worries about jobs and other issues. It’s also not clear whether tariffs can restore trade balance — it’s possible that the expensive dollar is to blame, and that only an abdication of the dollar’s role as the global reserve currency can fix things.
In a post coming soon, I’ll elaborate on that. But for right now, what’s clear is that many people are upset about trade imbalances, and tariffs are one available policy for trying to address those imbalances.
The third problem, security risks from Chinese-made goods, is something I’m not really qualified to assess. The fear is that if China’s security services put backdoors in Chinese- made products, they could use those built- in vulnerabilities , to cause havoc in the US , in the event of a war:
According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, connected cars “are like smart phones on wheels” and pose a significant threat to national security.
” These vehicles are connected to the internet. They gather a lot of sensitive information about the drivers, including personal information, biometric data, and where the car goes,” she told reporters late on Wednesday.
Data collection is not the only concern, she and other officials said. Additionally, connected vehicles could be remotely controlled or manipulated by evil entities.
” Imagine if there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of Chinese- connected vehicles on American roads that could be immediately and simultaneously disabled by somebody in Beijing,’ ‘ Raimondo said. So it’s frightful to consider the cyber risks and espionage risks that these pose. ‘
It’s pretty terrifying to think about how much destruction China could cause if it controlled all of our cars, given how one wayward cargo ship just , took out a major bridge , in Baltimore that will take years to repair.
I will say, though, that it seems like the danger here is entirely from Chinese- made , computer chips. A BYD car made with those same chips has the same security as a GM or Ford vehicle.
So if you’re worried about cybersecurity, it seems to me that the one and only thing you need to keep out of the US are Chinese- made semiconductors.
Anyway, this brings us to the last factor: the capacity for defense manufacturing. In times of war, civilian factories are typically repurposed to make war materiel— for example, when Ford , churned out massive quantities , of B- 24 bombers during World War 2.
We have a law known as the Defense Production Act that authorizes the government to direct US businesses to switch their production lines to produce military equipment or other goods essential to national security ( for instance, we made companies build ventilators during Covid using the DPA ).
But the DPA is useless if you , do n’t have the factories , to repurpose. In a war, the US wo n’t be able to significantly increase its defense production capacity if US heavy manufacturing fails and dies in the face of Chinese competition. That could lead to a swift and devastating US defeat at the hands of China.
My guess is that China is well-versed in this and that it has been generous with subsidies and gung-ho about increasing its manufacturing exports because of it.
Yes, of course they want jobs and growth, but the tantalizing potential of forcibly deindustrializing the West through subsidized exports has undoubtedly crossed the minds of every Chinese leader.
Therefore, trade barriers must be erected to prevent overly heavily subventioned Chinese import surges in order to have domestic manufacturing available for military repurposing.
This consideration has nothing to do with American jobs or profits or trade deficits — it’s just a cold, hard military reality. The Cato Institute, the writers at , The Economist, and others who support protectionism appear to have no other choice but to take the lead.
In other words, there are multiple intersecting reasons for tariffs to go up, and most off these have bipartisan appeal. The significant changes in American trade policy are likely only the result of Binden’s massive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
This article was originally published on Noah Smith’s Noahpinion , Substack, and it is now republished with kind permission. Read the , original , and become a Noahopinion , subscriber , here.
Following reporting higher-than-expected quarterly revenue, a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, and a strong demand for its ride-share services, Grab Holdings increased its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday ( May 15 ). A major restructuring at Grab, including the reduction of 1, 000 jobs and some of the costs associated with technologies,Continue Reading
Getty ImagesVladimir Putin, the Russian president, praised the “unprecedented” levels of ties between the two nations ahead of his state visit. Beijing is scheduled to welcome him.
China has emerged as a key supporter more than two decades after his conquest of Ukraine. Much to the chagrin of the US and the European Union, it has continued to trade with a heavily sanctioned Russia and has refused to condemn the conflict.
Nevertheless, it appears Mr Putin wants more. But will China pay the price?
Perhaps it is amazing that the Russian president chose China as his first international trip since taking the oath of office next week. Their relationship has reached its “highest level always,” he told Foreign state media during the two-day state visit. He mentioned his interest in Chinese martial art and beliefs, and claimed that members of his family are studying Mandarin.
” In the face of a hard global situation, our relations are also strengthening”, he said.
But while Mr Putin brags about their friendship, Mr Xi may had reason to worry.
The US has really made a number of new sanctions against Beijing and Hong Kong-based institutions and businesses that allegedly work with Moscow and aide in evading the country’s existing restrictions.
This picture can not be played
For them, this has become a dark range. China insists that its position on Ukraine is natural, and that exports that are not used for business purposes besides war do not break the law.
However, the allegations followed Mr Xi on his trip to France next year, distracting from what was supposed to be a beauty unpleasant.
As the EU considers tariffs of its own, the Sino-skeptics and China eagles are also becoming louder, urging Mr. Xi to put more pressure on his Soviet rival.
And the truth is that China’s slow business cannot afford to experience this pressure from its trading partners. It needs those businesses overseas because of weak demand at house.
All of this leaves Mr Xi in an odd situation.
Weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, the two frontrunners announced a” no- limits” collaboration to strengthen co- activity. This made feeling for the armies in their intellectual conflict with the West.
Moscow is also crucial to the changing of a US-led world order, according to Beijing. Trade between them is flourishing. Low Russian energy, including regular gas supplies via the Power of Siberia pipelines, have been a profit for China.
But, as the conflict has dragged on, the ally has never seemed so “limitless”. For one, the word has almost disappeared from status press, a BBC research has found.
Zhao Tong, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, claims that Beijing is downplaying the unwavering character of its strategic relationship with Moscow.
” While China supports the goal of undermining American control, it does not agree with some of Russia’s methods, including the risk of using radioactive arms. China is acutely aware of the social costs associated with presenting itself as a supporter of Russia, and it is constantly developing strategies to improve its image of legitimacy on the international level.
On his recent visit to Europe, Mr Xi said the state is “neither the father of the issue, not a group to it or a student”. China keeps telling its own people about this.
However, the avowed neutrality does not imply support for Ukraine is easily discernible on China’s very censored media.
Foreign state media however justifies Russia’s war, calling it swift retribution by Moscow against US- backed Nato growth.
When Xu Weixin, a Taiwanese artist, first witnessed the first loud explosions to strike the Russian capital Kyiv on television in 2022, he felt compelled to record it.
” I do n’t have a weapon, but I have my pen”, he told the BBC from his studio in the US. His initial drawing, a photograph of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was a hit on social media.
Since the start of the war, I’ve been painting every time. I did n’t stop even for one day. When I got Covid, when I travelled worldwide, I also drew every day”.
Although his work has not been subject to any restrictions in China, the responses it received stunned him.
” It’s very different to my past knowledge”, he said. ” When I painted about fuel miners, all the responses I got were good. Perhaps my depictions of the social revolution received acclaim. I barely got any criticism”.
But this time, he says, he saw a reaction. ” It’s okay, I merely blocked them”, he says. Some of my friends disliked me because they were against my opinions. But what am I capable of? I believe I’m doing a proper point. I want to become a role model for my daughter”.
It’s a sign of hope for Ukrainian like Vita Golod, who want to control Chinese mind. She was in Kyiv at the time the conflict broke out, and she made the decision to convert Russian media into Chinese using her Mandarin proficiency to share it on social media.
On a trip to Beijing, she told the BBC,” We wanted to let folks know the truth about this war because we were aware at the time there were no Russian media outlets or sources.” She is currently the vice president of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists.
” It was hard physically to be honest, and it took a lot of time”, she says. A group of around 100 people translated formal announcement, President Zelensky’s remarks, and the stories of regular Ukrainians caught in the battle zone, she added.
She claims she hopes to arrange for Chinese scholars to travel to Ukraine so they can witness the destruction themselves and, eventually, put pressure on Russia. She is aware that this is an ambitious objective but wants to try. Her parents still reside in their hometown close to Bucha, and her brother is in the forefront.
” People in Ukraine are still suffering, they are still hiding in shelters, still bleeding in trenches. Ukraine needs sanctions on Russia, not beautiful words”.
So far, her work has not been censored, which implies some tolerance by the Chinese government.
Other voices from Beijing are coming out, suggesting that some of the Chinese public’s attitudes toward this unrestrained relationship may be changing.
Feng Yujun, director of Fudan University’s Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies, recently stated in The Economist that Russia was certain to lose in Ukraine.
It’s a bold opinion in China.
But then, Mr Xi has also suggested he could be a peace keeper.
He phoned the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in March of last year and emphasized that China has “always stood on the side of peace.” China also released a 12-point peace plan that calls for the end of nuclear weapons.
However, neither of Presidents Putin and Xi’s meeting this week is likely to change their minds significantly.
However, he will be calculating the risk of standing shoulder to shoulder with an international pariah who he once called both a comrade and his “dear friend” as the West becomes more impatient with their alliance and Mr. Xi’s hopes of playing peacekeeper have been so unsuccessful.
Getty ImagesIn other words, you may roast the ingredients or crush them into powder. The richness of their flavorings is thoughts- boggling. Pickles and foods are seasoning with Indian ingredients. They add flavor to street foods and mouthwatering. Nearby fruit drinks are fueled by zingy spices, which give them a sour twist.
Unsurprisingly, India has emerged as a global pepper powerhouse. It exports more than 200 spices and value- added products to some 180 countries, worth$ 4bn ( £. 1bn ), according to the Spices Board of India. The country is the largest spice customer in the world, accounting for$ 10 billion on its own.
However, problems are now growing about these renowned ingredients ‘ security. Due to a suspected higher amounts of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing pesticide, in Singapore and Hong Kong, revenue of some spices produced by American companies MDH and Tibet were suspended last month.
That’s not all. According to a FDA spokesperson, the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) is also looking into products made by the two well-known brands for potential pesticide traces. An analysis of US regulatory data by the news agency revealed that since 2021, an average of 14.5 % of MDH spices shipments have been turned down because of the presence of bacteria. Both companies make sure their goods are secure.
The European Union ( EU) has raised similar concerns after discovering the same cancer-causing element in Indian samples of pepper and chili peppers. Studies say that the Islands, Bangladesh and American food regulators have even launched investigations.
India exports nearly$ 4bn worth of spices, accounting for 12 % of global spice exports
Big spices exported include pepper powder, cumin, turmeric, lemongrass and mingled spice
Another significant exports include asafoetida, basil, fennel, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon
The biggest industry for American flavors are China, the US, and Bangladesh.
Another important areas include the UAE, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the UK, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong
( Source: Spices Board, Global Trade Research Initiative )
Obviously, it is a troubling growth. For one, both the names are well-known and reliable. Delhi- based MDH, an classic 105- season- old family- run company, offers a range of more than 60 combined and ground spices. The 57- yr- ancient Everest Food Products, launched by a spice trader, claims to get India’s “largest manufacturer of natural and integrated spices”, exporting to over 80 countries. Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood giants, have served as Everest’s company ambassadors.
To be sure, this is not the first moment American ingredients have been found to become contaminated. In 2014, Ipsita Mazumdar, a biology professional, tested common spice manufacturers in Kolkata which made chilli, cinnamon, cake flour, and garam masala. She discovered lead in the food coloring that gives the spices ‘ vibrant red or orange hues. More than 60 000 kg of spice powder, including coriander power, turmeric, and pickle masala, were recently seized by Gujarat’s food and drug control authorities in April.
So are Indian spices safe? Every state government has been given the mandate to conduct quality checks by the federal government. Exporters are required to check for the use of ethylene oxide under the guidance of the Spices Board, which has five quality evaluation labs. Samples are being tested by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ( FSSAI ).
India’s health ministry claims the country has one of the world’s strictest Maximum Residue Limits ( MRLs ) standards, with pesticides ‘ MRLs varying by food commodity and determined through rigorous risk assessments. But something is clearly amiss: in 2022, the FDA highlighted inadequate sanitary facilities, accommodation, and equipment cleanliness standards at a premier Indian spice plant.
” India has been a spice exporter for centuries. But this image has been declining in the last few years, with the government’s inadequate attention. We’re not yet certain what stage the contamination is taking place. Ethylene oxide is not used by farmers. It is most probably a post- harvest, post- processing residue”, says Narasimha Reddy Donthi, an independent researcher and environmental justice activist.
” It is not only the negative attention. Repeated instances of excessive residue accumulation can have a long-term impact. In the past, mango exports to the US suffered for years due to pesticide residues”, Mr Reddy adds.
Global Trade Research Initiative, a Delhi-based think tank, believes that” cascading regulatory actions in many countries” could result in the recent quality concerns threatening half of India’s spice exports.
If China questions the quality of Indian spices, over half of India’s global exports could be affected, joining five other countries, the GTRI said in a recent report. ” The situation could get worse if the EU follows suit, which consistently rejects Indian spice consignments due to quality issues.”
The origin of the spices in western cuisine is still a mystery to those who love them.
” I do n’t believe that the majority of people are aware of the origins of their spices. I certainly do n’t, and I use spices a lot! I live a few blocks from Chicago’s main Indian shopping district, Devon Avenue, which is where I buy my spice. I assume they are from India, but I have never considered this,” said author Colleen Taylor Sen.
In the end, experts say, India must fundamentally overhaul its approach to food safety, prioritising transparency, stringent enforcement and clear communication to safeguard the integrity of its exports.
PUBLISHED: 15 May 2024 at 04: 59
NEWSPAPER SECTION: News
City Hall claimed that waste composting helped save more than 141 million baht from various refuse disposal techniques next year.
Ekwathanyu Amrapal, official of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, said the thus- called Mai Teh Ruam ( Say No to Unseparated Garbage ) battle was joined by 184 areas and more than 600 franchises citywide.
The strategy focuses on separating fragile waste into compost for city-wide open parks.
That, according to the official, reduces some 74, 000 kilograms of wastes from last year’s waste that would otherwise have been disposed of by other means, or at least 141 million ringgit.
Applications have been received for the fifth population of Endeavor’s Scale Up by Initiative program. This program, which is supported by Grab and GX Bank in partnership with Cradle’s MYStartup, is intended to enable early-stage business owners in Malaysia, according to a statement from Endeavor Malaysia.
Following the success in the previous four cohorts, supporting large- ability companies such as CapBay, Bloomthis, Kiddocare, Healthmetrics, The Noor, TRAPO and many more, Endeavor Malaysia aims to maintain accelerating the ecology  , for the future decade.
A series of courses called” Scale Up by Endeavor” are intended to accelerate the growth of early-stage, high-potential businesspeople in 42 global industry. Malaysia’s Scale Up was created with native knowledge in mind, taking into account the needs of the ecosystem, investor landscape, regional-specific resources, and customizing each participating creator and company’s challenges and opportunities.
The Managing Director of Endeavor Malaysia, Adlin Yusman ( pic ), noted that the Scale Up by Endeavor program frequently serves as the first point of contact with the Endeavor pipeline and network. ” The program provides tailored mentorship, fosters an entrepreneur- to- entrepreneur community, and equips founders with the required resources to promote Endeavor’s values and mission – inspiring the world’s fastest- growing entrepreneurs to wish bigger, size up, and pay it forwards”, he added.
Select companies in Cohort 5 may benefit from assistance from best talent from Grab and GX Bank in addition to accessing Endeavor’s community of over 70 skilled instructors. These officials will add their experience to coach entrepreneurs, more accelerating their growth.
Entrepreneurs are encouraged to seize this opportunity to join Endeavor’s vibrant community of fast-growing innovators. Software for the fifth group may remain open until June 3rd. 2024.
For more information about Malaysia’s Scale Up by Endeavor and to access the application portal, please visit https ://www.endeavormalaysia .org/scale-up-by-endeavor-track