https://www.scmp.com/rss/324245/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com August was a noisy month for both Washington and Beijing. The Trump White House opened an investigation into China’s intellectual property policies. Meanwhile, the Chinese government launched an anti-dumping probe into some rubber imports from the US and several other countries. With the scent of a “trade war” in the air, have Sino-American economic ties arrived at a turning point? The situation looks less bleak from the macroeconomic perspective. China and the US are connected by trade,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2111140/why-china-us-trade-conflicts-wont-end-war-no-matter-how-loud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2111140/why-china-us-trade-conflicts-wont-end-war-no-matter-how-loud?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Sep 2017 05:35:40 +0000 On August 18, Donald Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, ­resigned. That came shortly after Bannon’s sensational interview with Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of the progressive magazine American Prospect, which published it on August 16. In the interview, Bannon claimed: “The economic war with China is everything. And we have to be maniacally focused on that. If we continue to lose it, we’re five years away, I think, 10 years at most, of hitting an inflection point from which... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2108071/why-beijing-should-mourn-not-cheer-exit-steve-bannon-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2108071/why-beijing-should-mourn-not-cheer-exit-steve-bannon-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Aug 2017 09:00:45 +0000 Here some of the American businesses and industries that could bear the brunt if a trade war were to break out between the US and the world’s most populous nation: Read: US businesses may suffer in a tit-for-tat trade war with China, advisor says 1). Hollywood studios China’s 2016 box office takings edged up 3.7 per cent, sputtering after the previous year’s astonishing 48 per cent growth. Still, that’s 45.7 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion) in receipts, second only to the US, and 42 per cent of... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2104231/here-are-american-companies-most-risk-trade-war-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2104231/here-are-american-companies-most-risk-trade-war-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Jul 2017 11:48:09 +0000 When the first summit between presidents Xi Jinping (習近平) and Barack Obama took place in June 2013, there was an interesting photo of them walking side by side at the picturesque Rancho Mirage in California, in striking resemblance to the strides of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Back then, the Sino-US relationship actually resembled the pleasant relationship between Pooh and Tigger. This time round, at the meeting in Florida, although US President Donald Trump does not have a figure as slim as... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2089574/china-and-us-must-narrow-trade-gap-boosting-trade-rather?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2089574/china-and-us-must-narrow-trade-gap-boosting-trade-rather?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Apr 2017 05:00:30 +0000 Given the critical tone towards China that was evident in US President Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric, it might have appeared a far-fetched notion that a few months into a Trump presidency China-US economic relations would still be on an even keel and the broader outlook for the Chinese economy seem relatively rosy. But such is the case. The Florida summit between Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping appears to have gone smoothly. Indeed only last week Trump, who had previously been... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2088411/why-gloom-dealmaker-trump-pivots-china-and-things-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2088411/why-gloom-dealmaker-trump-pivots-china-and-things-are?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Apr 2017 02:13:59 +0000 For months US President Donald Trump railed against China over trade but the only concrete outcome he extracted from his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was a promise to start 100 days of talks on narrowing the substantial US trade deficit. The compromise pales with Trump’s election-trail threats to label China a currency manipulator and slap punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. Now the big questions are whether Trump can assemble the right trade team to negotiate with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2086099/can-washington-narrow-its-trade-deficit-beijing-100?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2086099/can-washington-narrow-its-trade-deficit-beijing-100?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Apr 2017 15:45:30 +0000 Global equity markets and the dollar edged higher on Thursday, helped by fresh data showing a tighter US labour market, as investors stayed cautious before the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Key stock indexes in Europe and on Wall Street climbed but a gauge of global equities was little changed, with gains offset by a decline in emerging markets. The dollar index rose after data showed new applications last week for US unemployment... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2085646/global-stocks-dollar-inch-higher-trump-xi-summit-gets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2085646/global-stocks-dollar-inch-higher-trump-xi-summit-gets?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Apr 2017 23:55:54 +0000 The dollar rose on Thursday, with gains limited ahead of a two-day summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that could have geopolitical ramifications, and Friday’s critical US jobs report. “The long-awaited meeting ... could well be a combustible affair, with the future of trade relations between the superpowers at stake,” said Dennis de Jong, managing director at online FX broker UFX.com in Limassol, Cyprus. “The market will be hoping for stable,... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2085590/us-dollar-crawls-hemmed-uncertainty-over-trump-xi-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2085590/us-dollar-crawls-hemmed-uncertainty-over-trump-xi-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Apr 2017 19:45:30 +0000 The Trump administration is so alarmed that Chinese investors may try to purchase Westinghouse Electric’s nuclear business that US officials are trying to find an American or allied buyer for the company instead, two people familiar with the matter say. Cabinet members including Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have discussed preventing Westinghouse’s purchase by a Chinese-linked company, three US officials said. The administration is preparing for Westinghouse... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2085134/trump-team-wary-china-seeks-friendly-buyer-nuclear?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2085134/trump-team-wary-china-seeks-friendly-buyer-nuclear?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Apr 2017 12:51:19 +0000 With the first official meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump set for this Thursday and Friday in Florida, analysts see the prospects for a trade war diminishing in the near term, even though Trump is still likely to label China a currency manipulator to fulfil an election campaign promise. Andy Rothman, a strategist at Matthews Asia, said it is highly likely Trump will label China a “currency manipulator” as a way to fulfil his campaign promise but the cost... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2085048/trump-still-likely-label-beijing-currency-manipulator-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2085048/trump-still-likely-label-beijing-currency-manipulator-after?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Apr 2017 07:09:25 +0000 The safe-haven yen advanced to a one-week high against the dollar and a 4-1/2-month peak versus the euro on Tuesday, as investors grew cautious about a possibly contentious meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump had vowed during his campaign to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. While that has not happened, a report last week said the Trump administration was reviewing the scope of its power to penalise countries whose... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2084899/forex-market-turns-cautious-trump-xi-summit-draws-near?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2084899/forex-market-turns-cautious-trump-xi-summit-draws-near?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Apr 2017 19:50:44 +0000 United States President Donald Trump has done a fine job lowering expectations for his April 6 to 7 summit with China’s President Xi Jinping, tweeting that the meeting “with China will be a very difficult one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses”. Investors might wish to take that downbeat assessment with a large pinch of salt. In November Xi said he would work with the newly-elected Trump, just as he had with former President Barack Obama, “to uphold the... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2084597/florida-summit-could-be-game-changer-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2084597/florida-summit-could-be-game-changer-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Apr 2017 03:29:41 +0000 When Donald Trump was a boy, his parents apparently concluded he needed discipline. So they sent him to a military school. What he was taught apparently did not stick, however, judging from his chaotic behaviour as an adult and now as president of the United States. When Xi Jinping ( 習近平 ) was a boy, he experienced the life-threatening chaos of the Cultural Revolution at first hand and learned to subjugate and discipline himself. Now, as China’s Communist Party general secretary and the nation’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084377/can-xi-jinping-and-donald-trump-show-maturity-when-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084377/can-xi-jinping-and-donald-trump-show-maturity-when-it?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Apr 2017 09:40:26 +0000 US President Donald Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda on Friday by ordering a study into the causes of US trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. The executive orders came a week after Trump’s promise to replace Obamacare imploded in Congress and a week before he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, a summit that promises to be fraught with trade tensions. Trump said at a White House signing... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2084007/trump-signs-order-against-trade-abuses-week-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2084007/trump-signs-order-against-trade-abuses-week-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Mar 2017 22:26:49 +0000 US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross criticised China as one of the most protectionist major countries on Friday, less than a week before President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet for the first time in Florida. “My view is that the United States is about the least protectionist of the major countries --and that China is one of the most protectionist,” Ross said Friday in an interview. “There’s an inherent clash between those two even though China uses a tremendous amount of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2083964/us-accuses-china-being-one-most-protectionist-major?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2083964/us-accuses-china-being-one-most-protectionist-major?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Mar 2017 18:45:45 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and American President Donald Trump will hold a get-acquainted summit next week at Trump’s seaside retreat in Florida. Simply the fact that the two are meeting is a positive sign that provides some much-needed reassurance to a very uncertain relationship between the two countries. The entire Asia-Pacific region and the wider world have been nervously anticipating how the two major powers will deal with each other. While each leader will take the other’s measure... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2083512/can-steely-xi-jinping-and-volatile-donald-trump-find-right?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2083512/can-steely-xi-jinping-and-volatile-donald-trump-find-right?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Mar 2017 06:07:07 +0000 President Donald Trump talked tough on trade on the campaign trail, vowing to renegotiate a slew of major deals and to label China a currency manipulator on “Day One”. Now his administration appears to be taking a more cautious approach. On Friday, the president will sign a pair of executive orders aimed at cracking down on trade abuses, according to top administration officials. The first calls for the completion of a large-scale report to identify “every form of trade abuse and every... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2083755/trump-sign-executive-orders-targeting-trade-abuses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2083755/trump-sign-executive-orders-targeting-trade-abuses?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Mar 2017 04:30:40 +0000 If US President Donald Trump gets confrontational with Chinese President Xi Jinping over trade at their Mar-a-Lago summit in Florida in April, the Chinese leader will have potential allies in some surprising places – namely, Austin, Sacramento and Olympia. The economic ties that bind China to the United States are primarily regional and run deep. Now, with a wild card in the White House, the Chinese want even more leverage should bilateral trade relations get hammered. China’s Ministry of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2083514/austin-oil-seattle-aviation-chinas-ties-us-run-regional?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2083514/austin-oil-seattle-aviation-chinas-ties-us-run-regional?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:02:45 +0000 One accomplishment of a ­summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be a road map for a bilateral investment treaty, business ­analysts in the United States say. They believe there is a favourable environment for both sides to conclude the discussion on such a deal, which started nine years ago and entered substantial negotiations in 2013, because it would support one of the few Trump campaign pledges that has survived into his presidency – more... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2080331/sealing-investment-deal-within-reach-trump-xi-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2080331/sealing-investment-deal-within-reach-trump-xi-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Mar 2017 16:00:45 +0000