Miscellaneous News

TPenglake said:

Well, its begun. MAGA going from denying Signalgate, to laying the groundwork for blaming the entire fiasco on one of the two East Asians in Trump's admin. The guy who no less was supposed to become Trump's chief China strategy advisor and was rabid Sinophobe Tom Cotton's general counsel no less.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1904904102917570900

Place your bets folks. Chances Alex Wong becomes the fall guy, gets fired, and the administration calls it a day?

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CasualObserver said:

What a clown...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1904779360755646709

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Trump Teases a Tariff Reprieve—If China Lets Go of TikTok​

President Donald Trump offered to lower tariffs on China if the country approves the sale of social-media app TikTok.

“China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly, in the form of an approval maybe, and I think they’ll do that. Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” Trump said in an Oval Office press conference Wednesday.

TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, faces an April 5 deadline to sell or divest the app. If a deal isn’t reached by then, U.S. companies that help make it available domestically would face fines under a law passed by Congress in 2024.

The initial deadline for a divestment passed on Jan. 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration. The app briefly cut off service in the U.S. before restoring it as it became clear U.S. authorities were looking to keep it operating. On taking office, Trump issued executive orders to extend negotiations for 75 days and to defer any legal action against U.S. service providers.

TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

China would need to issue regulatory approval to allow a TikTok sale. Officials have indicated they aren’t inclined to do so.

“We’re going to have a form of a deal,” Trump said. “But if it’s not finished, it’s not a big deal, we’ll just extend it.”

The president’s ability to issue extensions is contested. The law includes a provision for extending the negotiations for 90 days, but Trump didn’t trigger that, opting instead to issue an executive order.

Three Democratic U.S. senators issued a letter Monday saying that because Trump hadn’t followed the legal process, U.S. companies were “risking ruinous legal liability, a difficult decision to justify in perpetuity.”

Trump has raised tariffs on imports from China by 20 percentage points. Further tariffs are expected on April 2.

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Maikeru said:

Just to confirm the same applies ceteris paribus the Chinese women in the West.

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FriedButter said:

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Total lie and absolute fraud. This “reprieve” will only last until the US government controls TikTok. Then they will attempt to strongarm China into selling anything else they deem an “national security threat” to American Imperalism.

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MortyandRick said:

What's the point of complaining about it, if there is no mechanism to punish CK or any mechanism to stop the sale?

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U.S. May Include South Korea Among ‘Dirty 15’​

The U.S. government has referred to 15 countries with high non-tariff barriers as the “Dirty 15,” raising concerns that South Korea may be included in the list.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in an interview with Fox News on March 18 (local time), “On Apr. 2, we will announce the tariff rates for each country,” adding, “Some countries may have lower rates, while others may face higher ones.” He further explained that the U.S. would take into account factors such as a country’s tariff rates, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair financial practices, and labor suppression.

Bessent also noted, “I am optimistic that some tariffs may not be implemented because countries could reach agreements before then or approach us for negotiations once they receive their reciprocal tariff figures.” This suggests that countries taking measures satisfactory to the U.S. could avoid tariffs, marking a somewhat softened stance from previous statements that emphasized tariffs without exception in reciprocal trade.

However, Bessent also remarked, “There are countries we call the ‘Dirty 15,’ which impose significant tariffs on the U.S.,” pointing out that these nations maintain critical non-tariff barriers, such as requiring a certain level of domestic production or enforcing inspections on U.S. food and goods that are unrelated to safety. While he did not specify which countries are included in the ‘Dirty 15,’ some analysts suggest that South Korea cannot be ruled out as a possibility.

In fact, South Korea ranked as the eighth-largest surplus country in trade with the U.S. last year by recording a surplus of $65.8 billion. Additionally, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Chief Jamieson Greer, who met with South Korean Trade
Minister Jeong In-kyo last week, reportedly expressed strong dissatisfaction with South Korea’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures on agricultural products, stating that there was “a lot to fix.” On March 17, White House

National Economic Council (NEC) Chairman Kevin Hassett also specifically pointed out that the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has persisted for years. President Donald Trump even claimed in a congressional speech that South Korea’s average tariff rate is four times that of the U.S., citing incorrect statistics.

If South Korea is classified under the “Dirty 15,” following its recent designation as a “sensitive country” by the U.S. Department of Energy, it could face significant pressure in trade negotiations with Washington.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s key export sector, semiconductors, may also face increasing difficulties in exports to China. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated, “We are working to incorporate indirect export controls into trade agreements with various countries to prevent China from securing U.S. semiconductors.”

While the U.S. has already taken administrative measures to curb indirect semiconductor exports to China, the statement suggests a plan to explicitly include such restrictions in trade agreements. Given that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix rely on U.S.-made equipment and software for advanced semiconductor production at their Chinese plants, they would inevitably face significant repercussions if such restrictions are formalized in trade agreements.

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated, “We are working to incorporate indirect export controls into trade agreements with various countries to prevent China from securing U.S. semiconductors.”

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Given that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix rely on U.S.-made equipment and software for advanced semiconductor production at their Chinese plants, they would inevitably face significant repercussions if such restrictions are formalized in trade agreements.

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FriedButter said:

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Total lie and absolute fraud. This “reprieve” will only last until the US government controls TikTok. Then they will attempt to strongarm China into selling anything else they deem an “national security threat” to American Imperalism.

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FriedButter said:

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Trump opting to enforce semiconductor blockade with trade agreements via economic coercion. Obviously South Korea, Netherlands, and Japan will bend the knee as usual. ASML monopoly will finally be burnt once and for all.

So what is the future of Samsung and Hynix? Last I read, they are facing increasing competition from Chinese domestic alternatives.

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