Worldcrunch
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have negotiated a truce in their trade war, delaying China’s planned restrictions on rare earth exports. Yet Trump has been forced to back down in the face of a strong Chinese response, a miscalculation that could have long-term consequences, also for Taiwan.
China is now wielding a U.S.-style extraterritorial law on rare-earth trade. It has tilted the balance of power in its favor, but rattled global markets and left the rest of the world caught in the crossfire.
China has halted purchases of U.S. soybeans, cutting American farmers off from billions of dollars in revenue. It is a crucial example of how amid Donald Trump’s trade war is hitting his own voters, and feeding geopolitical rivalries beyond traditional diplomatic or military areas.
America is carrying massive debt, and half of it is financed by the rest of the world. If foreign nations and investors coordinated, they could force Trump to negotiate more reasonably on tariffs. Will they take the risk?
This is not (just) about awkward exchanges or conventional indignation. It’s about understanding what’s “happening” to us, the rest of the world, that is forced to adjust to this paradigm shift.
A report from Oxford University lists the 32 countries – 16% of the world’s nations – with the infrastructure needed to develop artificial intelligence. The gap is widening with the rest of the world, in the key technological sector of the 21st century.
👋 ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ* Welcome to Thursday, where Iran’s nuclear sites are reported to be “severely damaged,” Gaza mediators are intensifying ceasefire efforts, and our daily quiz question is related to a very old discovery from a Polish cave. Meanwhile, Inma Mora Sánchez for Ethic outlines the issues surrounding women’s self-esteem, from the housewives’ awakening of the […]
The world of ultra-fast fashion has adapted quickly to Trump’s newer “reciprocal” tariffs and has become even more exploitative.
China is blocking exports of rare earth material in response to the U.S. trade war, which is now beginning to affect Western industries. Indeed, the American position is weakened just as negotiations are set to resume. Will Trump chicken out again?
👋 Sveiki!* Welcome to Tuesday, where Donald Trump kicks off his Middle East tour, French actor Gérard Depardieu is found guilty in a sexual assault trial and today’s quiz question honors 75 years of a global sport. Meanwhile, Ronald Cárdenas Krenz in Clarín explores the many ways Pope Leo expresses his Peruvian side. [*Latvian] 🗞️ […]
Xi Jinping and the rest of the Chinese leadership is defying Donald Trump in the tariff duel – and positioning itself as a more reliable superpower. The nation has been expecting this moment.
In her Oval Office debut with Trump, the Italian prime minister defends Ukraine, pushes for an EU-US summit, and dodges calls to raise defense spending.
As trade tensions with the US escalate, Beijing retaliates with Hollywood bans and a high-stakes Southeast Asia tour.
The U.S. president has unveiled a new round of tariffs against his trading partners. But Europeans have leverage against this policy, French essayist Édouard Tétreau writes.
The new U.S. tariffs on China have triggered a sharp response from Beijing. Both countries are convinced that a war between them is inevitable someday — and they’re preparing for it. While Europeans keep their eyes on Russia, Americans remain fixated on China’s rise.
French business analysts note that for companies, like nations, the current context is decidedly VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, to use a U.S. military strategy acronym. To succeed in Trump’s cut-throat commercial world, companies will need to acquire skills more common in matters of war and peace, than in traditional business operations..
The 75,000 wholesalers in the export manufacturing hub of Yiwu say they have been moderately affected by the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, which he has just announced he will double. Many had already pivoted to developing countries to sell their goods.
The American president had promised tariffs of at least 60% on all Chinese products. For now, it will be only 10%. Washington has other issues to negotiate with Beijing. Hitting old allies harder is part of a much different approach.
Donald Trump’s reelection has sent shockwaves through much of the world. Yet, surprisingly, many overseas Chinese — and even citizens within China — have openly celebrated his comeback. How does such admiration align with his openly anti-China rhetoric?
The election of Donald Trump has begun affecting global dynamics. In Ukraine, Zelensky fears losing U.S. support and has warned Europe against “suicidal” concessions to Russia. In Israel, Netanyahu stands as the main beneficiary, as Trump’s victory grants him the freedom to pursue his objectives unfettered.
If there’s one thing Kamala Harris and Donald Trump can agree on its the demonization of China. After the fall of the Soviet Union, China has become the United States’ ideological adversary — a rival shaping America’s own identity, uniting both left and right. Why does American politics always seem to need an external enemy?
As the U.S. presidential election draws closer, independent Russian-language media Vazhnye Istorii spoke with American politics specialists about the possibility of a second Trump term and what it would mean for the Russia-Ukraine war, traditional U.S. allies and China.
Following the escalation of the Chinese-U.S. trade war in 2018, the “Made in China” label is not as ubiquitous as it once was. Southeast Asian economies are on the rise — but their growth doesn’t necessarily threaten Chinese dominance.
MOSCOW — Nowadays, if you want to hear the Russian language spoken properly in Moscow, you have to go to an upscale restaurant. Anything less posh is occupied by people coming from Central Asia, any one of the ‘stan republics lying between the titans: Russia and China. But beyond the Ural Mountains, they say, it […]
It’s part trade war, part cyber defense — and the rumblings of conflict grow louder as countries (and companies alike) maneuver to protect their high-tech assets. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently announced that Japan would tighten export controls for advanced technologies in response to new U.S. trade restrictions aimed at China, writes the Yomiuri Shimbun […]
As tensions between Washington an Beijing continue to build, smaller nations like Argentina should stay out of the fray and instead strengthen regional integration.
-Analysis- NEW YORK — What a difference two decades make. In 1997, China’s gross domestic product was about 11% of the U.S’s. By 2017, it was up to 63%. But this overstates the difference in living standards between the two countries, since prices are generally lower in China. In purchasing-power-parity terms, China’s economy became the world’s largest in about 2013. So which country’s economy is really bigger? The truth probably lies somewhere between these two figures. If China were to abolish its capital controls and open its currency to foreign speculation, there’s a good chance the yuan would rise in […]
The U.S./China trade war is also sparking a currency conflict, one that brings to mind the international climate in the early years of the the Great Depression.
By becoming president for life, Xi Jinping is bringing China back to its imperial history, taking advantage of the exceptional development of his country but also of America’s mistakes. But Chinese coming fortunes are still very much up in the air.
Things are getting nasty between Russia and bordering countries Belarus and Ukraine. And then there’s the Syrian factor.