Posted on 04/09/2025 5:32:20 AM PDT by hardspunned
Thailand is staring at a crisis caused by the rising number of factory closures in recent years, partly attributed to an influx of cheaper Chinese products.
“The Indian Express had reported Saturday that a high-level meeting had taken place at the Commerce and Industry Ministry to assess the situation with fears of a potential surge in imports in the backdrop of the reciprocal tariffs. "Necessary action will be taken. The Customs department and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) are vigilant, the official said.”
(Excerpt) Read more at world.thaipbs.or.th ...
Since Donald Trump’s trade policies, particularly his imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods, have restricted the flow of Chinese manufacturing products into the U.S., there’s been a noticeable ripple effect globally. Other countries are indeed contemplating or actively implementing trade policies to prevent Chinese products from being dumped into their markets, driven by concerns over excess Chinese supply seeking new destinations and the competitive pressure this places on domestic industries.
Several nations have observed that Trump’s tariffs—starting with measures in his first term and escalating in his second term with additional duties like the 10% tariff on all Chinese imports effective February 4, 2025, and threats of even higher rates—have redirected Chinese exports elsewhere. With the U.S. market less accessible, China’s manufacturing overcapacity, especially in sectors like steel, aluminum, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and solar panels, has intensified pressure on global markets. This has prompted responses from both advanced economies and emerging markets.
The European Union, for instance, has taken steps to counter this influx. In recent years, the EU has launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese products, particularly targeting EVs, batteries, and solar panels. By 2025, the EU has imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, reflecting worries about Beijing’s state-driven overproduction flooding European markets. This follows a pattern seen since 2023, where countries like Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey have also introduced tariffs or investigations into Chinese high-value goods, aiming to protect their domestic industries from cheap imports that could undermine local manufacturing.
Southeast Asian nations, such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, face a dual challenge. While they’ve benefited from trade diversion as U.S. imports shifted away from China (with exports to the U.S. surpassing those to China in 2024), they’re now grappling with an influx of low-cost Chinese goods. Thailand, for example, saw over 2,000 factory closures in 2024 due to cheap Chinese steel and other products, prompting calls for stronger trade defenses. These countries are weighing anti-dumping measures and quality standards to balance economic ties with China against the need to shield their own producers.
Emerging markets are cautious, though. Many rely on Chinese intermediate goods for their own manufacturing and fear retaliation from Beijing, which limits their ability to impose aggressive tariffs. Instead, they’re exploring subtler tools like export controls or incentives to attract Chinese investment in local production, hoping to mitigate dumping while maintaining economic ties.
Globally, there’s a growing consensus—evident in forums like the G7—that China’s non-market practices, such as heavy subsidies, distort trade. Trump’s policies have amplified this concern, pushing countries to act unilaterally or seek coordinated responses. However, aligning these efforts is tricky due to differing economic priorities: advanced economies want to protect high-tech sectors, while developing nations aim to onshore manufacturing without alienating China.
So, yes, since Trump’s trade policies tightened the U.S. market, other countries are actively contemplating and implementing measures—tariffs, investigations, and regulations—to prevent Chinese manufacturing products from flooding their economies. The specifics vary, but the trend is clear: his actions have accelerated a global pushback against China’s export surge.
All commie polities are parasitical. Sooner or later the host rebels or dies. Democrats were openly pushing for death of the free market/capitalist gov’mts. Now, that is receiving pushback.
I tended to view Trump’s tariffs as warring with China without using military means.
Trump should have just left it at 25% for China and raked in billions instead of bringing this to a head.
It’s a lot easier to get a fair trade deal when everyone is acting in their own country’s best interest, instead of their own best personal interest.
The Trump tarifff has China boxed in.
It will only get worse for Chinese manufacturing.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro identified what he called the “seven deadly sins” that China must stop doing before the ongoing trade war with the U.S. will come to an end.
“Stop stealing our intellectual property, stop forcing technology transfers, stop hacking our computers, stop dumping into our markets and putting our companies out of business, stop state-owned enterprises from heavy subsidies, stop the [importation of] fentanyl [and] stop the currency manipulation,” Navarro said.
Even Communists are bound by the incontrovertible rules of economics. There is a supply/demand ratio that has to remain within a certain range to be sustainable, predatory pricing of goods and services creates its own countervailing action, and good will in the economic sphere, though apparently intangible, is a very real force. The CCP has violated every one of these precepts, and now stands to pay the price.
I just read that British Steel company has been owned by China since 2020 and that the Labor government is considering nationalization to prevent the company from shutting down two blast furnaces that are no longer 'financially sustainable'.
The Trump tarifff has China boxed in.
It will only get worse for Chinese manufacturing.
…
Don’t disagree. However, I wonder what the plan is for some of our most commonly used pharmaceutical drugs that come from China. I know, some products should have never been allowed to be produced over there.
BTTT
I agree for the most part. We have the leverage because we import so much product from China. It’s not just Walmart. It is all sorts of supply chain that what our manufacturing and assembly (that we do have left) require. Those corporations who focused in the past on cultivating domestic sourcing are going to have a huge advantage in the near term, although they are going to find that (unless they have contracts), the domestic supply is going to get more expensive due to much higher market demand from existing domestic manufacturers.
There are a lot of people who complain about the tariffs and whine “They can’t just build plants and hire people overnight”.
Well, yes they can. Some of them. Not all domestic manufacturers were operating at full capacity in the past. They have to retool for increased production.
And yes you can hire help virtually overnight. The trick, of course, is actually paying well enough.
Here is how we don’t necessarily have China boxed in. Not from their point of view. They can still trade and export to the rest of the world, and if their supply rises, their prices will drop, so importers from other places than the U.S. will likely want to take advantage. Overall it’s not great for China, because they will be making less on their goods, but it may not be a complete face-plant that some people are predicting.
Yet, from our point of view, it should still accomplish the objective, which is that the cheap imported goods are cut off, or at least not cheap anymore, so even if the “trade war” virtually stops almost all of the trade, it should still encourage domestic growth (which unfortunately also comes with inflation)
We did just fine in the 1950s and 1960s, not trading with China at all. I’m OK with a return to that.
I wonder what the plan is for some of our most commonly used pharmaceutical drugs that come
from China.........some products should have never been allowed to be produced over there.
“We’re gonna tariff our pharmaceuticals ... we’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals.” From Aaron Rupar 8:00 PM · Apr 8, 2025 (Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
Nice deconstruction——pro and con.
Plus, we “just” discovered a massive lithium deposit. Before this, China was the major source of critical lithium.
My bet is that the good guys knew about the lithium for a long time, but “just now” announced it.
“Fair trade” is, for example, not in our interest when it involves China with critical industries and supply chains.
....we “just” discovered a massive lithium deposit. Before this, China was the major source of critical lithium. My bet is that we knew about the lithium for a long time, but “just now” announced it........
Very plausible observation.
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