back to article Donald Trump blinks in his one-man trade war with China: US govt stalls import tariff hike on Chinese phones, laptops, electronics

America has pushed back its decision to raise import tariffs on Chinese-made smartphones, laptops, and similar electronics, by 10 per cent, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced today. From September 1, The Land of the Free will tack the extra levy on $300bn of stuff coming in from the Middle Kingdom. However, …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    "I saved the Christmas!!!"

    Could be a great slogan for next years elections....

    Anyway a big admission about how much US now depends on China-made products...

    It also looks that ""health, safety, national security and other factors" includes Bibles printed in China...

    1. VikiAi
      Happy

      Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

      It was always funny meeting fresh foreign nationals arriving in China (particularly from the US) who would proudly, if discretely, boast of the boxes of Bibles they smuggled in with their luggage. Didn't have the heart to show them the city bookstore where Bibles, Korans, and the texts of every other major world religion were freely for sale in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, etc. as appropriate or translated to Chinese.

      In fact the only book I couldn't easily obtain was Mao's little red one (found one at a a street vendor once, but he wanted far more for it than I could justify paying for a fun gift to send home to my mum!)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

        Perhaps someone should smuggle bibles into the US.

        Particularly ones with the passages about "love thy neighbour" and "turn the other cheek" underlined.

        Mind you, if they realise that Jesus was an Arabic socialist* their heads might explode.

        * He was definitely a communist by US standards

        1. Claptrap314 Silver badge

          Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

          You have any bridges to sell with that load of fertilizer?

          The claim that Jesus was Arabic is straight-up antisemitism.

          And no, He wasn't socialist, either. At no point does He suggest that the government (or anyone else) should be in the business of taking from Peter to give to Paul.

          1. James 51
            Angel

            Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

            Okay, this is John the Baptist but:

            'John answered, "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same."'

            Lets not forget the overturning of the market stalls in the temple and healing people for no money either. Rich men find it difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven. The efforts of those who have few resources matter more than those who have plenty to spare. He doesn't say take from Peter to give to Paul but he does say that's what Peter needs to do if he wants to go to heaven.

            1. Claptrap314 Silver badge

              Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

              Is he telling the government to do this? Or individuals? One is socialist, the other is volunteerist.

          2. Sanguma

            Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

            "The claim that Jesus was Arabic is straight-up antisemitism."

            Define your terms.

            What is "antisemitism"? I define it as the unfounded and irrational hatred and fear of Jews for merely being Jews. Declaring that Jesus shared the same culture as millions of his fellow Levantines, somehow doesn't fit my definition. But my definition's been tested through at least two thousand years of misery. I don't know where your "definition" comes from.

          3. scarletherring

            Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

            > The claim that Jesus was Arabic is straight-up antisemitism.

            You realize that Arabs are semites, yes?

        2. JLV

          Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

          ”love thy neighbour" and "turn the other cheek" underlined.

          But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

          ?

          1. Sanguma

            Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

            ”love thy neighbour"

            One of these days someone'll try to sell "LoveThyNeighbour" Guns. Some Texan, or Mississipian or Alabaman will appear on the world's TV screens with a cheesy or cheezwizzy sort of grin and proclaim to the faithful and the hopeless that "No greater love hath a man for his friends than they lay down their lives for him."

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

        As long as the China government can nominate its own bishops, and refuse the Vatican designated ones, it looks they may let you read a bible... but it looks they are less inclined with some Muslim minorities, or with Hong-Kong people who don't look to like happy to embrace Chinese rules soon.

        Anyway there's a lot of books printed in China too, nowadays - even expensive ones like photo books. It shows how much business has been sent to China to reap the last dime.

        1. VikiAi

          Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

          Pretty much. They are fine with pretty much anything that stays out of their politics+policies, but try to step into their private playground and you will get a right thumping.

        2. Strahd Ivarius Silver badge
          Trollface

          Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

          That is exactly what Heny VIII did, and look what the UK got later: Brexit...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

            More accurately

            the UK got the Church of England

            ...and the US got Scientology.

    2. EricM
      FAIL

      Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

      And that is also the reason why existing or announced tarriffs will not lead to significant relocations of production capacity.

      These relocations need several months to several years to be planned & executed. Several more years in stable economic situations to pay for themselves.

      And that stability can not be expected from the US government.

      Either Trump tries raising taxes permanently, tanks the US economy and loses the next election or he will soon drop the new taxes in response a a probably meaningless "fantastic deal" he will pretend to have reached with the Chinese.

      In neither case these tarriffs will last anywhere long enough to justify any long-term relocation of production capacity back to the US.

      1. Kabukiwookie

        Re: "I saved the Christmas!!!"

        And that is also the reason why existing or announced tarriffs will not lead to significant relocations of production capacity

        No, but it will bring about predictable up and down turns in the stock market for the people who have been informed of what Trump will announce the next day.

        It would probably quite interesting to see the results of an SEC investigation of Trump's immediate circle and their friends/family

    3. el kabong
      Thumb Up

      Saving Christmas is no small feat, donald trump scores again

      Isn't the guy sick of winning yet? He just keeps scoring and winning!

      A beautiful triumph, again, no drama. Hail, trump!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Trump is always negotiating with himself

    He announces something, then takes it back. Him caving on yet another deadline shows how weak his position is. China will "win" this dispute by simply being willing to wait him out, knowing he will be forced to give in before next year's election to prevent the economy from going downhill. If the economy turns sour, the democrats could beat him running Walter Mondale's corpse.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Trump is always negotiating with himself

      Reading something about this yesterday. China framed it as a national fight that everyone was involved with and it would hurt all. Trump framed it as a fight against the Chinese and only they would be affected.

      Now that the Americans are starting to realise that he is causing them pain.

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Trump is always negotiating with himself

      "China will "win" this dispute by simply being willing to wait him out, knowing he will be forced to give in before next year's election to prevent the economy from going downhill."

      I doubt the Chinese are even worried about the next US election. They plan for and play the long game. They can out wait him even if he wins a second term. There can't be a third term. (unless he tries to change the law, and I don't see that happening)

  3. PhilipN Silver badge

    Toys R Us

    Did they have anything on the shelves not made in China?

    1. simonlb Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: Toys R Us

      Firearms. It is America after all.

      1. mithrenithil

        Re: Toys R Us

        Well if US sold some of its best toys to China (aka weapons) the trade deficit might look very different!

    2. a pressbutton

      Re: Toys R Us

      I think you would find that the _shelves_ were made in china.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lobbying

    I imagine the lobbying went something like; Here is what we are going to donate to your rivals campaign in the next election if you don't get your %#&* straight.

    Or some equally suitable incentive.

    1. Turbo Beholder

      Re: Lobbying

      At this point, some more donations simply don't matter. They are not racing "one more time" for prestige, courting the apathetic public who doesn't give much of a damn. They are having cold civil war on the verge of getting very hot. Two alliances on each other's throat. A counter-coup vs. counter-counter-coup, with crowds cheering both sides. Mere ads can't change much in this situation. For the same reason, the press is going to act on its own allegiances, thus isn't going to do anything more or less than it would do anyway.

      1. Mark 85

        Re: Lobbying

        Oh, I think the apathetic public does indeed give a damn. Most are just sitting around bidding their time until his term(s) up. From what I can tell from associates, co-workers, even people in the pub, they're pretty fed up with Tweet-storms and BS coming out the White House.

        And he probably will get a second term as the Dems are destroying each other instead of focusing on their target next year. It is apparently true in politics that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and Trump squeaks the loudest and more often then the others.

    2. WonkoTheSane
      Holmes

      Re: Lobbying

      Nah. Someone reminded him just how much of his own "Trump"-branded merch also has "Made in China" tags on it.

  5. Turbo Beholder
    Facepalm

    See, it's EITHER "one-man trade war" OR "US govt" equals "Trump". A little consistency, hmm?

    Other than this, it doesn't matter a whole lot. The reasons for tariff wars are leverage and protectionism.

    Leverage has expiration date: it's used to push something else, then it either works (and will be discarded in exchange for gain), or doesn't (and will be discarded as useless). Either way, we don't know what went there.

    Protectionism has a lag between the declaration and results. It merely clears a field for the locals… then someone else will have to sow something viable in it, which cannot be reaped instantly, either. Thus declaring a tariff a bit too early is not a mistake, this reduces inconveniences without weakening the intended effect.

    1. veti Silver badge

      Protection clears the field for locals - but it's far from clear that there are any who are waiting to work that field. If there are, then what's been stopping them for the past 30 years?

      If the plan is to advantage them with special treatment, then a rational investor will discount that advantage as something that will probably be dropped as soon as Trump, or his successor, sees no future in it. Since Trump himself has absolutely no qualms about reversing his own policy, it would be the act of a moron to invest good money on the assumption that he'll stick to what he said.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        True, but the current share prices of Tesla and Uber demonstrate what has been said by many economists in the past - that many investors are indeed morons.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > Since Trump himself has absolutely no qualms about reversing his own policy,

        You are making an invalid assumption that the 'extra 10% on September 1' was a 'policy' or in any way thought out. It was much simpler than that: he was at a rally and wanted another cheer from the crowd to feed his ego so he just said the first thing that jumped into his mind.

        Now that he has been told that some people like to give presents to each other around the mid-winter solstice and that price rises would be unpopular, he wants another ego-feeding cheer by announcing that he won't do that (yet). It is, as is everything else he says, all about, and only about, 'ratings' and 'applause'.

        When he was in the middle east last April (wasn't it) and was in front of a military crowd he announced that the soldiers hadn't had a pay rise for some years (a lie) and that he had arranged for a 10% pay rise this year (another lie). He knew nothing about what or how the pay was, he simply want to feed his ego with a cheer from the crowd so he made stuff up.

        This is why America is now a joke for the rest of the world.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Not the rest of the world. About 90000 clueless sociopaths have inflicted on the UK a PM every bit as bad as Trump, who also makes up policies to get likes. And that after they had seen for themselves what Trump was like. We have absolutely nothing to boast about in this respect.

          Applications to UK universities from China are up. I await with interest Johnson's sanctions on Monday after he's talked to Trump, followed by a reverse on Tuesday after someone shows him the economic statistics, followed by donuts in the car park till he crashes.

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge

      "It merely clears a field for the locals…"

      Unfortunately for the USA, the country has been endlessly using and abusing protectionism - either directly with tariffs (light trucks and agricultural products ) or indirectly with technical rules such as the USA(LHD) vs UN(LHD) carmaking rules over the last 70 years to insulate local producers from world realities that the internal market is completely and utterly warped in its views of everywhere else.

      Carmakers are screaming that having to make UN(LHD) standard vehicles is a trade barrier erected against them. Light truck makers are screaming that noone wants to buy their overpriced, oversized, overpowered, unreliable and thirsty vehicles outside the USA (except as boutique purchases). Farmers don't really care because they have a captive market that for the most part doesn't notice that the steaks are grey, not red, or that food poisoning traceable to chicken slaughtering is 100 times the level in the EU. Telcos have somehow managed to obtain abusive monopolies without the pesky Universal Service committments that AT&T used to have as a result of the 1932 FTC Antitrust settlement.

      The USA is large enough to be a self-contained market, but the barriers it's erected against others entering tend to grate when it's demanding access everywhere else and demanding "free trade or else!"

      Tariffs haven't been clearing fields for locals in the USA for a very long time. They're been allowing the incumbents to maintain their cushy lifestyles by shutting out new entrants - and whilst these kinds of misuses are the very thing that GATT and WTO rules are intended to try and tear down, the USA has been erecting more and more such barriers of late.

      One thing that Trump is right about - he really is "Making America Grate"

      1. Sanguma

        "They're been allowing the [recumbents] to maintain their cushy lifestyles by shutting out new entrants"

        There FTFY

  6. eldakka

    Dammit, does that mean we have to wait another 3 months before the US economy meltdown?

  7. the Jim bloke
    Flame

    Trump is in attention seeking mode again

    He seems to be making some (more) random media flailings.

    Maybe he is afraid another Tiananmen Square event will push him off the front pages, or there might be something local in the U/S thats got him nervous.

    If everyone ignored him long enough, he'd probably set himself on fire.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Trump is in attention seeking mode again

      There is something happening in the US which must be worrying him. The numbers in favour of gun control has passed the 50% mark. But Trump's core support will never contemplate it.

    2. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: Trump is in attention seeking mode again

      He's always in attention seeking mode. That's his default state of being. Running for president was his way of getting attention (which is why he's done it so many times).

      There is no long term plans, or crafty strategies, he just does whatever he thinks will make people like him at that time. If someone new walks into the room and talks to him he'll change his mind five minutes later. All of his policies are based on whatever he just watched on Fox News.

  8. simonlb Silver badge

    'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

    Unless I'm missing something, if you've already asked China to make your stuff for you, the transfer of the technology and IP has already been done, otherwise they couldn't make it. So how is this unfair?

    1. James 51

      Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

      For a long time China was not enforcing IP laws on its own companies so they could steal or reverse engineer technology and sell it cheaper (with little to no R&D costs to recoup and with a lot of the tech being made by Chinese factories, they had plenty of samples to examine, or simply make more of the same and stick another badge on it). Foreign companies could complain but nothing was done. Then the communist party, wanting to climb the tech ladder told foreign companies, give your technology away for free to local companies and we'll let you have a piece of the pie. This is the crux of the problem. Give away the technology you’ve invested in to get something or hold on to it and get undercut anyway. It’s market manipulation and protectionism on a vast scale and is a form of extortion. This is in part what is so maddening about Trump. He’s right about the communist party abuses of the market and companies, it’s just that he’s so incompetent and petulant that it is very doubtful he is going to be successful in doing something about it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

        India did exactly the same thing without being communist. It is what every developing country needs to do to overcome the first mover advantage of the developed world. It is what the US did in its earlier stages.

        Your post really can be summarised as "It's so unfair! China wants to grow economically the same way the US did!"

        1. James 51
          FAIL

          Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

          Just because the US and India did it does not make it right.

          1. iron Silver badge

            Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

            Just because you're receiving a dose of your own medicine doesn't make it wrong.

            1. James 51
              FAIL

              Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

              You are assuming that I am American or Indian and I am neither.

      2. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

        For a long time the USA was not enforcing IP laws on its own companies so they could steal or reverse engineer technology and sell it cheaper

        There, fixed that for you.

        Quite recent examples which spring to mind are:

        - jet engine technology (centrifugual and axial - taken from British and german scientists respectively)

        - nuclear weaspons research - borrowed from the Brits and then _refused_ to be handed back

        - movies - stolen from the Lumiere Brothers.

        - light bulbs - mostly stolen from Swan and Priestly.

        The USA was notorious for pirating steam engine technology too, back in the day.

      3. JaitcH
        Meh

        Re: 'preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China'

        Many of the 'knock offs' are as a result of American greed as they willingly supply both production machinery and know how.

        It is a quite voluntarily transaction, no coercion involved. Americans want low cost manufacturing and the Chinese are quite happy to check out any technology.

        Often, companies work day shifts cranking out product for the American customers whilst the night shift produces identical products, using the same machinery - hardly meeting what Trump describes.

        There are many ways to stop this alternative production is to use technology or even keeping a live body, from a trusted Nation, to guard the machinery.

        As HuaWei proves, China has plenty of home-grown talent, which is quite capable of developing their own products. Apple couldn't operate without Chinese labour - imagine chubby, fat fingers trying to assemble iThingies!

  9. FeepingCreature Bronze badge

    > Although economists argue that all these levies do is push prices up, with the burden falling on buyers rather than sellers

    This is bad economics. Yes they push prices up - that's the entire point. Yes the burden falls on buyers, so buyers don't buy the thing as much. If they would still buy it, the price would already have been raised anyways; otherwise you're suggesting the companies have been leaving money on the table. The goal is that it specifically pushes prices up for chinese products. The point isn't to get chinese sellers' money, as that quote would seem to imply, the point is to *prevent* chinese sellers from getting (as much) money.

    1. Alan Brown Silver badge

      "so buyers don't buy the thing as much"

      where it gets even more pernicious is when _export_ bans are imposed.

      These are hurting USA technology companies which depend heavily on sales to China and it would perfectly understandable if they took the time-honoured response to such stupidity of decamping their entire operation to jurisdictions which are more friendly to business operations - leaving thousands of USA workers with a choice of moving to another country or being unemployed.

    2. Richard Plinston

      > If they would still buy it, the price would already have been raised anyways

      No. If the price is raised then sales would fall. ie if the price goes up then there will be fewer buyers. Companies that use components from China need to maintain output and revenue otherwise they would need to cut back on production, lay off workers and support their fixed costs on less revenue. This is a problem when Trump can change his mind on a whim: tariffs would be dropped, the company would have to ramp up production back to previous levels and recruit new employees with all the attendant training costs.

      Companies are trying to survive these random changes by absorbing the extra costs of the tariffs, keeping the products being sold and hoping that sense will prevail. With Trump flailing around he could do anything next week and cause the whole economy to collapse as companies give up trying to keep afloat.

  10. Tom 7

    Is he getting commision ?

    The very thought of a scarcity is one of the best sales techniques known.

  11. Adelio

    Trump and delays

    I just get the feeling that Trump, or his family and "friends" probably got news of this "change" Before it was announced.

    After all Trump seems to think the law is designed for him to use as he see fits and why not make a few more bucks.

  12. Rich 11

    Fortuna eruditis favet

    El Reg assumes the White House wants to make a bulk order of authentic fortune cookies for its Christmas party this year.

    If the Chinese realise who is placing that order I bet they'd be tempted to ensure every single cookie read 'May you live in interesting times'.

    1. crayon

      Re: Fortuna eruditis favet

      Fortune cookies are most likely invented by Chinese/Japanese immigrants to the US. So "authentic" fortune cookies won't be found or made in China.

  13. Peter Clarke 1

    Another View

    The shakedown wasn't from the tech sector on Trump- it was Trump on the tech sector.

    "Hey guys, if I delay the tariffs until after your peak selling season, there's something I want in return......"

  14. Milton

    inside the 'mind'

    It appears that someone managed to find enough appropriate short words—nothing longer than two syllables—to Crayola a MacDonald's napkin with the words "Tariffs paid by Merkins NOT that scary Chinese guy" and "Peepul won't like Donald if Christmas prices go up".

    Alternatively the Tangerine Twerp uses backchannels, perhaps through his idiot spawn, to benefit from the stock market rollercoastering that his seemingly impulsive, idiotic decisions cause. Those Russian loans will take a long time to pay back, after all ....

    Or maybe he saw a pretty insect, and thought ... ... ... ...

    1. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: inside the 'mind'

      "the Tangerine Twerp uses backchannels ... to benefit from the stock market"

      Objection.... Assumes intelligence and facts not in evidence.

      He's been bankrupt multiple times and the only skill he's ever shown himself to be good at is pissing money against a wall and stiffing his smaller creditors whilst somehow convincing the larger ones to keep giving him wads of cash.

      It smells like a money laundering operation to me (and not coincidentally, smelled like one to the Australian Federal Police in the 1980s, which is one of the reasons why they successfully objected to him being given an Australian casino license - the other being their thorough documentation of his mafia connections)

      It's widely believed that Robert F Kennedy's father used his Mafia connections (moonshining) to get his son installed in the White House, but the Kennedys had some political history and intelligence. This is another level of cronyism and idiot cousin handling the accounts altogether.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yet another smoke screen - and now the reality

    I have a sneaking suspicion that a few hours before this announcement, Trump was notified that Wall Street was about to tank and take the whole show into a recession. That should not be news because the US has been teetering on the brink of one for quite some time, but it's amazing what you can hide when you can deploy a metric cathedral worth of BS a minute, especially if you can make sure the Fed plays along with your BS about why they cut the rate.

    Ergo his "present", a desperate attempt to break the trend of every. single. Republican. president having caused a recession (with a honorable mention for George W Bush who actually managed TWO) with their mismanagement of the economy. That said, Trump has established a new record here - the country has never been in so much debt before, and has never had so few reserves to try and climb out of it.

    If his intention was to damage the US on behalf of Putin, I don't think he could have done a better job if he tried, and that's without starting a war. That may still come, because he's running out of distractions. He's now buying the votes of the farmers again with handouts, counting on it they they're not smart enough to realise that those will be dropped the moment he has their votes because that is the only value they have for him.

    You better start leaning Chinese. You may no longer have a choice soon.

    1. Richard Plinston

      Re: Yet another smoke screen - and now the reality

      > You better start leaning Chinese.

      The pessimists are learning Chinese, the optimists are learning Russian.

  16. Welsh Skeptic

    I am not very well versed in international law or economics but I was wondering if China might hold an ace up its sleeve that might just trump Trump's trade war.

    If China was to add a surcharge on all sanction goods imposed by the US and commensurate in value then this would have two effects. They would have money to pay companies affected by US actions and the conjunction of both surcharge and sanctions would jolt every American consumer into panic mode.

    One immediate effect would be to clear out all the backlog that is now clogging up the distribution chain and languishing in warehouses as people rush to buy it before the price hike.

    It might speed up the exodus of companies moving out of China but these companies should realise that it is expensive to move and takes time to build up a new experienced work force. Also the gap left in the Chinese market might be quickly filled by a new company employing the same workforce but with newer and perhaps more technically advanced than the old.

    Perhaps Christmas this year in America will become all old retro as they go back to celebrating how they did in the past. "Chestnuts roasting around..."

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I am not very well versed in international law or economics but I was wondering if China might hold an ace up its sleeve that might just trump Trump's trade war.

      They do, and it'll come from left field.

      What Trump and his band of merry robbers appear to miss is that China is moving into a position where it becomes pretty much the only game in town when it comes to saving the planet, and the US has zero answer to those developments as Trump decided to class this global problem as a hoax.

      If he had identified it as an issue worth paying attention to, the US could have been much further along in the resulting industry and actually make some money there too - instead, Trump's mistake will set them back for at least a decade as R&D pretty much dried up after boosting his coal mining friends.

      You see, there is one consequence which directly hits the US at kneecap level: especially with the record deficit they now have (read: basically another bankruptcy for Trump), the US dollar critically depends on energy sales being done in dollars - Bush bombed the US-installed dictator Saddam back into the stone age because he was selling oil in dollars and made out like a bandit (WMD was but a -bad- excuse). The problem: the Chinese can affect that trade pretty much from about mid 2020 onwards. They expand this ability quietly as always, but I suspect the smart people will spot this and silently bail on the dollar too which eventually lead to major problems - possibly even a war if the idiots still reign.

      I am actually unsure the US will be a world leader post Trump. I have my doubts.

      1. crayon

        "Bush bombed the US-installed dictator Saddam back into the stone age because he was selling oil in dollars and made out like a bandit (WMD was but a -bad- excuse)."

        And Obama took out Gaddafi because he had dared to setup a pan-African currency backed by gold and was planning to sell Libyan oil in that currency instead of USD.

        "The problem: the Chinese can affect that trade pretty much from about mid 2020 onwards. They expand this ability quietly as always, but I suspect the smart people will spot this and silently bail on the dollar too which eventually lead to major problems"

        The smart ones already know this. Incremental steps have been taken over the past few years by China and Russia and their various trading partners to reduce the usage of the USD and eventual replacement of it by their national currencies. For years both countries have been building up their gold reserves and shedding their holdings of USD bonds. Both have also setup inter-bank transfer systems which bypass the US controlled SWIFT since SWIFT has become a political tool of economic terrorism.

  17. JaitcH
    FAIL

    Cambodians and Laotians Will Be Disappointed - Relabelling Factories Are Busy, Busy

    The brand new plants in Cambodia (Kampuchea) and Laos which feature Chinese products in and Cambodian or Laos products out are busy, busy with new construction featured at many sites demonstrating that they expect this new business to continue for some time.

    Chinese construction crews, employing predominantly Chinese workers, are doing the work. When functional, many of the production employees are illegals from China.

    VietNam has a different take, having recently closed down a similar operation as they want to protect their name.

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