One more thing about #China:
When reading about its successful space mission to the dark side of the moon, keep in mind that China still officially is a #developingcountry according to #WTO, allowing its webshops to ship their garbage for free to the West, hurting producers here and distorting markets. #Temu anyone?
China is not a developing country and its antics in #globaltrade need to be addressed.
> While the U.S. is self-sufficient for many of its own resources, the 68-year-old pointed out: “China imports 11 million barrels of oil a day. They’re a very complicated neighbor—their own actions are causing all their neighbors to rearm. Their GDP per person is $15,000 versus our $80,000. So we’re in a very good position.”
2023 saw the #MiddleEast pivot to #Asia accelerating significantly.
According to the 2023 report by #AsiaHouse - independent think tank & advisory service that enables commercial, political, and economic engagement between Asia, the Middle East & Europe.
#Trade between these regions increased by 34.7% from US$383bn in 2021 to US$516bn in 2022 & is growing faster than previous reports’ projections.
📢 U.S. has convinced #Japan & #Netherlands to join an expanded export embargo on #China, hindering #chip production. 🚫🇨🇳🔌
In retaliation, China cites national security & controls exports of gallium and germanium, critical in #tech gadgets like lasers, displays, power transistors. 📲💻
China may have to bail out one of its poorest provinces - And more provinces may follow. “China's local governments are struggling with trillions of dollars of debt, after three years of strict pandemic controls and a real estate crash drained their coffers. Some cities have already slashed medical benefits to seniors, sparking protests, and other vital services are at risk.” Global economic planners need to factor the possibility of a massive #China default into their global outlook predictions. If the USA slips into recession, as widely predicted, and then China defaults the risk of global contagion and international recession increases exponentially. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/27/economy/china-guizhou-province-debt-crisis-bailout-intl-hnk/index.html#economics#finance#globaltrade#commerce#ChineseDebt#ChineseDefault