Click here for the *5th Anniversary Special Offer* - less than 24 hours left to lock in 20% annual savings on Trade War
Welcome to the 240th edition of Trade War.
Two key party meetings call for more government support to boost household consumption, in part in preparation for more trade tensions. China to move from a “prudent” monetary policy to a “moderately loose” one. And State Administration for Market Regulation announces anti-monopoly investigation into US chip maker Nvidia.
Trump appoints China hawk Jacob Helberg—a tech executive, vocal proponent of the ban on TikTok, and a $1 million donor to the president elect—as top State Department official for trade and economic policy. “Trade may not lift all boats. It may lift some and actually lower others,” says outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, citing the damage done to US manufacturing jobs following China’s entry into the WTO.
And China continues to progress in AI development and starts to challenge Western rivals, despite U.S. efforts to stem flow of technology to the sector and growing sanctions on Chinese companies.
Notable/In depth ~
Uyghur militants in Syria vow to liberate Xinjiang
New autobiography by former Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel shows China was her major blind spot
“China’s climate agenda will reach a critical crossroads in 2025,” says Asia Society Policy Institute’s Li Shuo
Like I said, don’t miss out on the *5th Anniversary Special Offer* on Trade War- less than 24 hours left!
Two key meetings signal more policy support
Two key party meetings held in Beijing have called for more government support to boost household consumption in China, in part in preparation for growing trade tensions.
At the Central Economic Work Conference [CEWC] that closed on Thursday, officials pledged to cut interest rates and increase government borrowing. Along with further efforts to support China’s struggling property sector, officials said they would move to protect the Chinese economy against “external shocks,” an indirect reference to further clashes with the U.S. over trade and investment, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Earlier in the week on Monday, the 24-member Politburo announced China would shift from a “prudent” monetary policy to a “moderately loose” one, wording that hadn’t been used in over a decade. The all-male Politburo also said it would adopt a more proactive fiscal policy and allow the national budget deficit to grow beyond today’s level of three percent of GDP.
”More emphasis will be placed on expanding domestic demand. Especially amid uncertainties in the external environment, boosting domestic demand will be prioritized and efforts on multiple fronts will be taken,” said Huang Bin, deputy director of the Guoyan Institute of Economic Research.
Nvidia hit with anti-monopoly probe
Beijing announced Monday an antitrust investigation into Santa Clara, California-based AI chipmaker Nvidia, in what appears to be China’s latest salvo in a brewing trade war with the U.S.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Trade War to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.