Welcome to the 232nd edition of Trade War.
China’s third quarter GDP rises 4.6 percent slightly higher than a year earlier but slower than the previous quarter. Retail sales, industrial production, and fixed-asset investment all report strong numbers. By contrast, exports unexpectedly underperform and deflation deepens, while housing prices continue to fall.
As Trump proclaims tariffs “beautiful,” a reminder that his earlier trade action devastated US agricultural sales to its biggest market China. Even as Chinese stocks start to trade at attractive prices, asset managers are still sitting on the sidelines. And the former US president says Xi Jinping respects him because he knows he is “fucking crazy.”
German automakers face reckoning as they confront surging Chinese EVs. Apple helped BYD on a secret project to build a long-range battery. And Beijing is carrying out a multi-pronged campaign, including using celebrities and hackers, to undermine Taiwan.
Notable/In depth ~
China’s economic coercion relies on informal, easily deniable measures
Xi doubles down on Lenin’s elite-driven party structure
Rather than being a new Mao as some suggest, China’s leader today is a betrayer of the Great Helmsman’s legacy
China’s Q3 GDP up 4.6%
China’s third quarter GDP rose 4.6 percent slightly higher than a year earlier but below the 4.7 percent pace clocked in the second quarter, while other economic indicators showed a mixed picture.
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