South African Manufacturers Call for More Tariffs on China
The crisis is especially serious in South Africa's clothing and textiles sector, which trade unions and economic researchers say has declined remarkably over the past 25 years as China's hold on the market has strengthened.
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Straits Times
23 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US, China hold new talks on tariff truce, easing path for Trump-Xi meeting
Find out what's new on ST website and app. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leaving the July 28 trade talks between the US and China in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 28. STOCKHOLM - Top US and Chinese economic officials met in Stockholm on July 28 for more than five hours of talks aimed at resolving longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, seeking to extend a truce by three months. US Treasury Chief Scott Bessent was part of a US negotiating team that arrived at Rosenbad, the Swedish prime minister's office in central Stockholm, in the early afternoon. Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng was also seen at the venue on video footage. China is facing an Aug 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Negotiators from the two sides were seen exiting the office around 8pm (2am on July 29 in Singapore) and did not stop to speak with reporters. The discussions are expected to resume on July 29. Mr Trump touched on the talks during a wide-ranging press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he did not expect 'some kind of enormous breakthrough today' at the talks in Stockholm that he was attending. 'What I expect is continued monitoring and checking in on the implementation of our agreement thus far, making sure that key critical minerals are flowing between the parties and setting the groundwork for enhanced trade and balanced trade going forward,' he told CNBC. The Stockholm talks follow Mr Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on July 27 for a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods exports to the US. Xi-Trump meeting? Trade analysts said another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May between China and the United States was likely. An extension would facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. The Financial Times reported on July 28 that the US had paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support Mr Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with Mr Xi this year. Meanwhile, in Washington, US senators from both major parties plan to introduce Bills this week targeting China over its treatment of minority groups, dissidents, and Taiwan, emphasising security and human rights, which could complicate talks in Stockholm. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is set to delay an August trip his team had floated to the Trump administration that would have included stops in the United States, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on July 28. The potential visit would have infuriated Beijing, possibly derailing the trade talks. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, a position Taiwan rejects, and denounces any show of support for Taipei from Washington. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips, and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. 'Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place,' said Mr Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Mr Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption – a decades-long goal for US policymakers. Analysts say the US-China negotiations are far more complex than those with other Asian countries and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on US industries. REUTERS
Express Tribune
24 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Robots play drums, serve drinks at China expo
Serving craft beer, playing mahjong, stacking shelves and boxing, the dozens of humanoid robots at Shanghai's World AI Conference (WAIC) this weekend were embodiments of China's growing AI prowess and ambition. The annual event is primed at showcasing China's progress in the ever-evolving field of artificial intelligence, with the government aiming to position the country as a world leader on both technology and regulation as it snaps at the United States' heels. Organisers said the forum involved more than 800 companies, showcasing over 3,000 products - the undeniable crowd pleasers being the humanoid robots and their raft of slightly surreal party tricks. Opening the event on Saturday, Premier Li Qiang announced China would set up a new organisation for cooperation on AI governance, warning the benefits of development must be balanced with the risks. But in the cavernous expo next door, the mood was more giddy than concerned. "Demand is currently very strong, whether in terms of data, scenarios, model training, or artificial construction. The overall atmosphere in all these areas is very lively," said Yang Yifan, R&D director at Transwarp, a Shanghai-based AI platform provider. At one booth, a robot played drums, half a beat out of time, to Queen's We Will Rock You while a man in safety goggles and a security vest hyped up a giggling crowd. Other droids, some dressed in working overalls or baseball caps, manned assembly lines, played curling with human opponents or sloppily served soft drinks from a dispenser. While most of the machines on display were still a little jerky, the increasing sophistication year-on-year was clear to see. The Chinese government has poured support into robotics, an area in which some experts think China might already have the upper hand over the United States. At Hangzhou-based Unitree's stall, its G1 android - around 130 centimetres (four feet) tall, with a two-hour battery life - kicked, pivoted and punched, keeping its balance with relative fluidity as it shadowboxed around a ring. Ahead of the conference's opening, Unitree announced it would launch a full-size humanoid, the R1, for under $6,000. Tech giant Baidu on Saturday announced a new generation of technology for its "digital humans" - AI agents modelled on real people, which it says are "capable of thinking, making decisions, and collaborating". For now, few visitors to the WAIC expo seemed worried about the potential ramifications of the back-flipping dog robots they were excitedly watching. "When it comes to China's AI development, we have a comparatively good foundation of data and also a wealth of application scenarios," said Transwarp's Yang. afp
CNBC
24 minutes ago
- CNBC
Trade court won't reinstate tariff exemption on low-value 'de minimis' shipments, for now
A federal trade court on Monday declined, for now, to block President Donald Trump's decision to end a longstanding tariff exemption for low-value packages shipped to the United States, known as de minimis imports. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the scope of the lawsuit, brought by auto parts retailer Detroit Axle, is already covered by another ongoing case challenging many of Trump's tariffs. In that case, known as V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, the panel ruled against the Trump administration in late May, striking down Trump's sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs and other duties he had imposed. But the decision was quickly paused by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, keeping Trump's tariffs in place while the legal battle plays out. As a result, "This court has already granted, and the Federal Circuit subsequently stayed, all relief Axle requests," the lower-court panel wrote in Monday's ruling. "We will not grant redundant, contingent relief through a preliminary injunction here," they wrote. The court denied Detroit Axle's bid for a preliminary injunction and stayed its case, pending the outcome of the broader challenge to Trump's tariffs in V.O.S. Oral arguments in that case before a federal appeals court are set for Thursday morning. Detroit Axle sued the Trump administration in mid-May, challenging Trump's executive orders rescinding de minimis exemptions, which allow shipments valued below $800 to enter the U.S. duty free. The loophole has been a boon for Chinese budget retailers like Shein and Temu. But Detroit Axle's lawsuit argued that Trump's sudden scrapping of the tariff exemption, and his other "drastic and unlawful" trade policies, could wipe out its business in "a matter of months." The retailer said that its contracts with Chinese manufacturers have helped it broaden its U.S. customer base with lower prices, while growing its business. But between 2018 and 2020, the company said tariffs imposed on Chinese goods during Trump's first presidential term threatened its business model. That's when Detroit Axle sought to take advantage of the de minimis exemption, it said. It opened a distribution facility in Juarez, Mexico, that imports auto parts from China and only fulfilled orders for less than $800, which were spared tariffs under the longstanding de minimis exemption. But that model is now under "existential threat" from Trump's new tariff policies — especially his April 3 executive order that ended the de minimis exemption for Chinese imports by May 2. That order said that Trump was "targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers" who hide "illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages." Nonetheless, "the impact on Detroit Axle has been swift and catastrophic," the company said in its lawsuit. "Under the now-applicable Chinese tariffs, which have reached 72.5%, it is cost-prohibitive for Detroit Axle to import parts from its suppliers in China to its Detroit factory." "Its frugal buyers will not bear the increased prices, and Detroit Axle cannot absorb them," the retailer wrote. The company said it would exhaust its inventory by the end of June, forcing it to shutter its Michigan facilities and layoff hundreds of employees. In a Michigan state filing in late June, the company said it would be closing its Ferndale warehouse and laying off 102 employees around Aug. 25. "The decision to close this facility is due to unforeseen circumstance, specifically the sudden imposition of government tariffs, which have significantly disrupted our supply chain and sharply increased the costs of goods," Detroit Axle said in that filing.
