Interesting thread on X
China just launched a new kind of trade war. "The U.S. slapped tariffs on Chinese goods. China didn’t retaliate with weapons. They retaliated with information. The kind that makes $1,000 handbags look like $10 scams. TikTok is now flooded with Chinese suppliers exposing the truth: 👜 “You want a Birkin? We make them.” 🧘♀️ “Those $100 Lululemons? They’re $6 here.” 👟 “Your Nikes? Same factory.” Made in China. Shipped to Europe. Stamped “luxury.” Sent back. Marked up 1,000%. You thought you were buying European craftsmanship. You were buying a logo, a story, and a markup fantasy. China just ripped the mask off the entire Western luxury machine and showed you the receipts. And they’re being petty with it. 😏 They’re not just selling you knockoffs. They’re showing you the exact factory. Telling you the production cost. And teaching you how to fly in, shop direct, and skip tariffs altogether.
🚨BREAKING: TARIFF NEWS
State companies exporting from China face UP TO 245% Tariffs *Except if you are Apple $AAPL Source: @realDonaldTrump
China on Wednesday appointed Li Chenggang as vice minister of commerce and a top representative for international trade negotiation, according to an official statement, replacing Wang Shouwen.
The appointment makes Li a key member of China’s trade negotiation team as Beijing deals with trade disputes with the U.S. So far, there have not been any sign of near-term trade talks as both sides have ratcheted up tariff tensions. Source: CNBC
Nvidia said on Tuesday that it will take a quarterly charge of about $5.5 billion tied to exporting H20 graphics processing units to China and other destinations
The stock slid almost 5% in extended trading. ➡️ Biden placed these original restrictions on Nvidia, to not allow China to get their hands on the latest generation chips. Nvidia spent billions on new less powerful chips that met the U.S. original criteria so it could still sell to China. And now Trump has ruled those same chips as illegal to be sold to China. For businesses, it is very difficult to operate with this level of policy volatility... Source: Bloomberg, Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian
china first-quarter GDP topped Reuters poll expectations for a 5.1% growth year on year, building on a recovery that began in late 2024, thanks to a broad policy stimulus push.
▶️Retail sales in March rose by 5.9% year on year, sharply beating analysts’ estimates for a 4.2% growth. Industrial output expanded by 7.7% from a year earlier, versus median estimates of 5.8%. ▶️The urban unemployment rate slipped to 5.2% in March, following a two-year high of 5.4% in February. Source: CNBC
China has the largest manufacturing workforce on Earth, by far.
Source: UN, Markets & Mayhem
Some Europeans start to realize what is coming...
▶️ British retailers have warned that Chinese companies risk flooding the U.K. with low cost goods, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs choke off access to the world’s largest consumer market. ▶️“Retailers are very concerned about the risk of some lower quality goods being rerouted from the US to Europe as a result of the tariffs,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium. ▶️Analysts said that risk was especially pronounced among Chinese producers selling via online marketplaces such as Amazon, Shein and Temu. Source: CNBC
Crazy numbers coming out of China
A $100 billion (goods) surplus in March, a $275 billion goods surplus for q1 (up from $185 billion last year) and a surplus of nearly $1.1 trillion over the last 4 quarters... The easy explanation is tariff front running. But it seems "too easy" as an explanation. China's exports to the US and the EU look identical -- and there is no "reciprocal" tariff threat out of the EU. Same story with emerging markets: more exports and fewer imports. Source: Brad Setser @Brad_Setser on X
