[🇨🇳] China vs USA

[Saif]

Renewed US-China trade war is about tech supremacy too

China's determination to become a major player in this field is evident.

www.thedailystar.net

Renewed US-China trade war is about tech supremacy too

FILE VISUAL: REUTERS

The year was 1993. Chinese cargo ship Yinhe, sailing across the Indian Ocean, found its GPS equipment jammed, which depended on the US global satellite navigation system. Soon enough, US Navy ships appeared and wanted to search the vessel. Why? Because Washington suspected it was carrying chemical weapon materials for Iran. After a humiliating three-week standoff with food and water running out, the ship was searched, but no such cargo was found. Deeply humiliated, Beijing resolved that it must have its homegrown technology so such an incident would never be repeated. The outcome is BeiDou—better, bigger, and more advanced than any other satellite navigation system available today.

A similar spirit drives China's ambitions in the satellite broadband race, as ventures like Qianfan (also known as Thousand Sails or G60 Starlink), Guowang, and Geespace (developed by the automotive giant Geely) challenge the dominance of SpaceX's Starlink.

Launched in 2019, Starlink began with the ambitious goal of providing high-speed, low-latency internet coverage to even the most remote corners of the globe. It has steadily grown into a formidable network, with nearly 7,000 satellites already in orbit, and plans to deploy thousands more. It has proven to be of strategic value by providing crucial internet services in the Ukraine war. When terrestrial internet infrastructure was disrupted, Starlink terminals enabled Ukrainian forces to maintain communication, coordinate operations, and gather intelligence. This has highlighted the potential of satellite broadband networks to provide resilient communication channels in conflict zones, a capability that China undoubtedly recognises and seeks to achieve.

China's determination to become a major player in this field is evident. Qianfan, for instance, aims to create a constellation of 13,000 satellites, while Guowang has similar aspirations with its "national-level satellite internet constellation" plan. Geespace focuses on providing services to both the Chinese domestic market and international clients, with a constellation designed to support autonomous driving and other data-intensive applications. These ventures could provide high-speed internet access to underserved and remote areas of China and the world, bridging the digital divide and fostering economic growth. They could also be crucial to China's military and strategic ambitions, providing secure and reliable communications for its armed forces and intelligence agencies. This competition also encompasses the development of satellite jamming technology. Both players are investing in capabilities to disrupt each other's satellite networks while protecting their own.

Despite their ambitions and resources, Chinese ventures face significant technological hurdles. Developing and deploying a massive satellite constellation requires advanced technology in areas like satellite manufacturing, launch capabilities, and network management. The United States Space Command (USSC) reported that Qianfan scattered hundreds of space debris while launching 18 satellites in August last year.

The escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing has made this technological competition more complex. The US's restriction on tech exports to China, specifically designed to hinder the latter's progress in the space race, has continued since Trump's first presidency, followed by Biden's and then Trump's. The crucial role of artificial intelligence adds another layer of complexity to this race, and companies like DeepSeek, at the forefront of AI innovation in China, are poised to become key players. It also raises question about the effectiveness of US's tech sanctions on China: are they spurring China's innovations? Their sophisticated AI algorithms can analyse vast amounts of satellite imagery, enabling enhanced navigation, environmental monitoring, and even national security applications.

Innovative Chinese researchers and companies possess several advantages in the satellite broadband race, including robust government support and substantial financial and policy backing for their ventures. Additionally, China benefits from lower labour and manufacturing costs than the US, providing a significant economic edge. The country also boasts the world's largest internet market, offering a vast potential customer base. Furthermore, China's satellite broadband ambitions align with its military and strategic goals, enabling secure communication for its armed forces and intelligence agencies.

However, China must also overcome several crucial technological barriers, such as designing and manufacturing fast and efficient two-nanometre semiconductors, which Taiwan's TSMC already produces with Washington's active support (in comparison, China's SMIC is making five-nanometre chips for Huawei.) Washington's export controls on sensitive technology could hinder Beijing's progress. Still, such situations often stimulate innovations, as the development of DeepSeek without NVIDIA's most advanced chips has shown (it has recently been questioned, though.)

The implications of this competition are far-reaching. It's not just a commercial contest between companies; it's a strategic rivalry between two superpowers vying for technological supremacy. The outcome will shape the future of communication, global commerce and access to information, and redefine the balance of power in the 21st century.

Dr Sayeed Ahmed is a consulting engineer and the CEO of Bayside Analytix, a technology-focused strategy and management consulting organisation.​

 

[Saif]

China condemns Trump's 'tariff shocks' at WTO, US hits back

China condemned tariffs launched or threatened by US President Donald Trump at a World Trade Organization meeting on Tuesday, saying such "tariff shocks" could upend the global trading system in a warning dismissed as hypocritical by Washington. Trump has announced sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

China condemns Trump's 'tariff shocks' at WTO, US hits back
REUTERS
Published :
Feb 19, 2025 21:30
Updated :
Feb 19, 2025 21:30

A logo is seen at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters before a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, October 5, 2022. Photo : REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files

China condemned tariffs launched or threatened by US President Donald Trump at a World Trade Organization meeting on Tuesday, saying such "tariff shocks" could upend the global trading system in a warning dismissed as hypocritical by Washington.

Trump has announced sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with retaliatory tariffs and to file a WTO dispute against Washington in what could be an early test of Trump's stance towards the institution.

"These 'Tariff Shocks' heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession," China's ambassador to the WTO Li Chenggang said at a closed-door meeting of the global trade body, according to a statement sent to Reuters.

"Worse, the US unilateralism threatens to upend the rules-based multilateral trading system."

US envoy David Bisbee took the floor in response, calling China's economy a "predatory non-market economic system".

"It is now more than two decades since China joined the WTO, and it is clear that China has not lived up to the bargain that it struck with WTO Members when it acceded," he said. "During this period, China has produced a long record of violating, disregarding, and evading WTO rules," he added.

Only a handful of other states joined the debate, according to two trade sources who attended the meeting. Some of them expressed deep concern that tariffs pose a risk to the stability of the global trading system while others criticised China for alleged market distortions, the sources said.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also addressed the room and reiterated a call for calm. "The WTO was created precisely to manage times like these - to provide a space for dialogue, prevent conflicts from spiralling, and support an open, predictable trading environment," she said.

The WTO discussion, which began late on Tuesday and continues Wednesday, is the first time that mounting trade frictions were formally addressed on the agenda of the watchdog's top decision-making body, the General Council.

NEGOTIATING TACTIC

Less than being a swipe at Washington, some delegates said they considered China's intervention more as an effort to show itself as supporting WTO rules - a posture that can help China win allies in ongoing global trade negotiations.

Disputes between the two top economies at the WTO long pre-date Trump's arrival. Beijing has accused Washington of breaking rules while Washington says Beijing does not deserve its "developing country" status which entitles it to special treatment under WTO rules.

As the Trump administration has announced plans to withdraw or disengage from other global organisations, the WTO has not yet been a major focus for the White House.

However, incoming US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has called the WTO "deeply flawed".​

 

[Saif]

Trump says trade deal with China ‘possible’

US president Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that a trade deal was ‘possible’ with China — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy...

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Trump says trade deal with China ‘possible’
Agence France-Presse . Washington 20 February, 2025, 23:48

Donald Trump. | AFP file photo

US president Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that a trade deal was ‘possible’ with China — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy.

In 2020, the United States had already agreed to ‘a great trade deal with China’ and a new deal was ‘possible,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Asked about the comments, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Thursday the two countries should handle trade tensions with ‘mutual respect.’

One month into his second term in office, Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike — targeting China as well as neighbours Canada and Mexico, and the European Union — and using levies as his main policy tool for lowering the massive US trade deficit.

At the beginning of February, he slapped additional customs duties of 10 per cent on all products imported from China.

Beijing’s foreign ministry said Thursday that China and the United States ‘should resolve their concerns through dialogue and consultation based on equality and mutual respect.’

‘Trade and tariff wars have no winners and only serve to damage the interests of people all over the world,’ ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing.

At a separate news conference, China’s commerce ministry said Beijing ‘urges the US side not to wield the big stick of tariffs at every turn, using tariffs as a tool to engage in coercion all around.’

Trump is also threatening to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all imported cars, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as he turns up the heat on some of the biggest US trading partners.

He also told journalists aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that his administration was considering lumber tariffs of ‘maybe 25 per cent’ in the coming months.

The president initially announced tariffs of 25 per cent on all Canadian and Mexican imports, before U-turning hours before they were due to come into effect, granting a one-month reprieve in principle until March 1.

And he signed executive orders last week imposing new 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, due to come into effect on March 12.

Experts have warned it is often Americans who pay the costs of tariffs on US imports — not the foreign exporter.

Between Washington and Beijing, ‘there’s a little bit of competitiveness, but the relationship I have with president Xi (Jinping) is, I would say, a great one,’ Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

In addition to the leaders of France and Britain, Trump said Xi would also eventually be coming to Washington to meet with him.

Beijing has responded to the US tariffs with customs duties of 15 per cent on coal and liquefied natural gas and 10 per cent on oil and other goods, such as agricultural machinery and vehicles.

China is the country with the largest trade surplus with the United States in goods — $295.4 billion in 2024, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which reports to the US Department of Commerce.

US ally Japan last week said it had asked the United States to be exempt from Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium exports, and has underlined the importance of its auto industry.

Tokyo’s trade minister is arranging a visit to the United States in the coming weeks to further push for exemptions, Japanese media reported Thursday.

Yoji Muto was expected to meet US officials including new commerce secretary Howard Lutnick before March 12, when the 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports were set to come into effect, Kyodo News said.

Trump’s latest remarks on tariffs came as the European Union’s trade chief vowed Wednesday that the bloc would respond ‘firmly and swiftly’ to protect its interests if Washington imposes tariffs on EU goods.

Maros Sefcovic rejected Trump’s claim that US-EU trade ties were unfair, calling them the ‘very definition of a win-win partnership.’

But he signalled the EU’s willingness for dealmaking, such as the possibility of reducing or eliminating tariffs on autos and other products.

‘If we are going to talk about lowering the tariffs, even eliminating the tariffs, let’s say for industrial products, this would be something which we are ready to discuss,’ he said.

Within the 27-nation EU, Germany has by far the largest trade surplus with the United States, largely thanks to its automobile industry and chemical giants such as Bayer and BASF, according to the European statistics agency, Eurostat.​

 

[Saif]

China vows response to latest US tariffs

China on Friday vowed to take ‘all necessary countermeasures’ after US president Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports — a decision Beijing warned would ‘seriously impact dialogue’.

www.newagebd.net

China vows response to latest US tariffs
Agence France-Presse . Beijing 28 February, 2025, 23:30

China on Friday vowed to take ‘all necessary countermeasures’ after US president Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports — a decision Beijing warned would ‘seriously impact dialogue’.

Trump’s latest move will come into effect on Tuesday alongside sweeping 25 per cent levies on Canadian and Mexican imports, intensifying a brewing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports will come on top of an existing levy of the same rate imposed by Trump on China earlier this month.

Trump had announced — then halted — sweeping 25 per cent levies on Canadian and Mexican imports this month over illegal immigration and deadly fentanyl, with Canadian energy to face a lower rate.

But the month-long pause ends Tuesday.

Following reporters’ questions on whether he planned to proceed on the tariffs next week, Trump wrote on social media Thursday that until the problem of fentanyl stops ‘or is seriously limited’, the proposed levies will happen as scheduled.

‘China will likewise be charged an additional 10 per cent Tariff on that date,’ he added, referring to March 4.

In response to Trump’s allegations that Beijing is contributing to the fentanyl crisis in the United States, a spokesperson for China’s commerce ministry said Friday that Washington was ‘shifting the blame’.

‘China is one of the countries with the strictest and most thorough anti-narcotics policy in the world,’ the statement read.

‘But the US side has always ignored these facts,’ it said.

‘If the US side insists on going its own way, the Chinese side will take all necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,’ it said.

The statement also said that the tariff hike ‘is not conducive to solving (the United States’) own problems’, adding that it would ‘increase the burden on American companies and consumers, and undermine the stability of the global industrial chain’.

Shortly after the statement was published, China’s foreign ministry warned that the new tariffs would ‘seriously impact dialogue’ between the two countries on narcotics control, accusing Washington of ‘blackmail’.

‘Pressure, coercion and threats are not the correct way to deal with China. Mutual respect is the basic premise,’ foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a daily press conference.

China’s leadership will convene next week to hammer out plans to shield its economy from Trump’s threats.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday said she hoped to speak with Trump to avoid being hit by his threatened tariffs.

A high-level Mexican delegation is in Washington in search of an agreement.

And Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said officials are working around the clock to avert US levies but would have an ‘immediate’ response if measures were imposed next week.

Trudeau has repeatedly stressed that less than one per cent of the fentanyl and undocumented migrants that enter the United States come through the Canadian border.

Trump’s threats have sent shivers through major exporter countries.

Asian markets were all well in the red early Friday, with Tokyo briefly shedding three per cent.

Besides levies over fentanyl, Trump added on his Truth Social platform that an April 2 date for so-called reciprocal tariffs ‘will remain in full force and effect’.

These will be tailored to each US trading partner, with details to come after government agencies complete studies on trade issues which Trump has called for.

In a letter this week by Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao to newly confirmed US trade representative Jamieson Greer, Wang noted that Trump has called for many trade investigations ‘aimed at China’ and urged both sides to resolve their differences via dialogue.

Beijing has pushed back against US fentanyl concerns, saying Washington has to solve the issue itself rather than taking aim at other countries with levies.

Rather than the drugs being supplied directly to the United States, a Congressional Research Service report noted last year that US-bound fentanyl appears to be made in Mexico using chemical precursors from China.

While some precursors face international controls, others may be made and exported legally from countries like China.

In early February, China’s foreign ministry warned that fresh tariffs could hurt counter-narcotics cooperation.​

 

[Saif]

China’s foreign minister criticizes US tariffs and accuses the country of ‘meeting good with evil’

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate to the United States' "arbitrary tariffs" and accused Washington of "meeting good with evil" in a press conference Friday on the sidelines of the country's annual parliamentary session. Wang said China's efforts to help th

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

China’s foreign minister criticizes US tariffs and accuses the country of ‘meeting good with evil’
REUTERS
Published :
Mar 07, 2025 19:54
Updated :
Mar 07, 2025 19:54

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate to the United States' "arbitrary tariffs" and accused Washington of "meeting good with evil" in a press conference Friday on the sidelines of the country's annual parliamentary session.

Wang said China's efforts to help the U.S. contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining the ties between the countries.

"No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time," Wang said. "Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust."

The two countries have been reengaging in tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs since U.S. President Donald Trump's return to office in January. The U.S. has imposed flat tariffs of 20% of all Chinese imports, while Beijing has countered with additional 15% duties on U.S. imports including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies.

Regarding the Trump administration's policy of safeguarding U.S. interests above international cooperation, Wang said such an approach, if adopted by every country in the world, would result in the "law of the jungle."

"Small and weak countries will get burnt first, and the international order and rules will be under severe shock," Wang said. "Major countries should undertake their international obligations ... and not seek to profit from and bully the weak."​