By imposing provisional duties on Chinese EV imports, the EU seeks to protect its automotive industry while navigating complex internal and external pressures, with the potential for significant economic and geopolitical fallout if a full-scale trade war ensues.

Even amid frictions, empirical data show that trade between China and the United States is an objective economic law, based on complementary economies. Political tensions and other restrictions could distort or delay the growth but will be unable to kill it.

The construction of the Chancay port in Peru, heavily funded by China, highlights the growing economic influence of Chinese investments in Latin America and its potential threats to U.S. economic and national security. The U.S. is responding with alternative infrastructure investments and cybersecurity initiatives, but further measures are needed to regulate foreign investments and bolster port security in the region.

By accurately navigating global currents, stakeholders can consider both the expectations set before the plenum and the realities that follow, providing clearer insight into China’s strategic direction and its global implications.

In the so-called Third Plenum to be held on July 15-18, China’s senior leadership will have an opportunity to establish the broad outlines of a policy framework that could reshape the country’s course for the next several years. Don’t count on it. There is good reason to think that China watchers in the West have unrealistic expectations of what is to come.

The construction of the Chancay port in Peru, heavily funded by China, highlights the growing economic influence of Chinese investments in Latin America and its potential threats to U.S. economic and national security. The U.S. is responding with alternative infrastructure investments and cybersecurity initiatives, but further measures are needed to regulate foreign investments and bolster port security in the region.

After an eight-month investigation, the European Union has announced that it will impose tariffs as high as 38.1% on electric vehicles (EVs) from China to offset the unfair advantages created by Chinese government subsidies. In retaliation, China immediately launched an anti-dumping probe into pork imports from the EU. The two sides are now negotiating a solution to the trade dispute in Beijing.

America’s fundamental strategy of creating trading blocs of approved partners will have disastrous global consequences. The Great Depression in the 1930s was brought on, in part, by U.S. protectionism. The world must now guard against a similar calamity.

On June 12, the European Union announced new provisional levies on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), with the tariff level to be based on estimates of how much state support an EV exporter receives. The new tariffs follow from a months-long investigation into China’s use of financial subsidies, and they will be imposed on top of the 10% tariff that the EU already has in place. They are “provisional” because they might be revised downward if Chinese producers can offer evidence that the support they receive is less than estimated. Separately, if the EU can reach an agreement with China to reduce the volume of Chinese EV exports to Europe, the new tariffs may not be implemented.

In this interview, Professor Huang Yiping discusses with James Chau, president of the China-United States Exchange Foundation, the trajectory of China’s economy and the factors that influence it. He also discusses the end of China’s so-called economic miracle and explains why the country is now working to transition to a more normal economic growth model. Will China’s local government debt lead to a systemic financial crisis? Huang elaborates on “three perils.”