Trade War Update: The Battle Continues

Just as when spectators that the riffraff is close to coming into a culmination, the trade war continues.

Recently, US President Joe Biden announced the formation of a strike force in response to China’s alleged unfair trade practices.

The new scheme will monitor critical products, particularly those in the technology industry namely semiconductors and battery-powered EVs.

In February, the then newly-elected US leader ordered a review on critical supply chain materials in adherence to risk-related standards.

Aside from technology, other industries affected by the action include pharmaceuticals, rare earth materials, and otherwise.

For the record, the world’s most powerful economy is heavily dependent on these supplies from its overseas partners.

The new watchdog will be led by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The policymaker promised to be on the watch on China’s adherence to competition rules during her confirmation in March.

The core focus will be on the monitoring of the global supply chain to spot some trade violations. The United States plans to meet such misalignments with sanctions in the form of tariffs and other applicable solutions.

This announcement came rather unprecedented to experts. Tai and China’s Vice Premier Liu He conversed over the phone during the tail-end of May to discuss their respective trade agendas.

This event is one of the first exchanges between the counterparts. The Donald Trump era is considered as one of the most difficult times to establish a good connection among the rivaling parties.

Insiders described the phone exchange between the two top policymakers as relaxed yet constructive.

This ignited hopes of the official making-up of the severed ties between the world’s two largest economies. However, the new curb presents another tough hurdle to crack.

Update on Chinese Agricultural Imports

Despite the persisting tension, Chinese agricultural imports from the US remain strong. This raises hopes on the future of the latter’s agriculture growth potential.

In an estimate for 2021, the world’s most powerful economy is expected to ship out $37.20 billion worth of agricultural products in China.

This translates to nearly 25% of the total, led by farm staples namely soybeans, corn, and wheat. Livestock and meat produce have also dominated, with the Chinese appetite for beef growing at an exponential rate this year.

This robust performance came despite the significant disruption in the global supply chain which led to some constraints on corn and soybean supplies.

The recovery ignites hopes of the continuity of good trading relationship between the counterparts, despite the newly emerging curb.