Trade wars are bad for anyone. Bad for Chine of course. But for Europe, its trade war + energy inflation + deindustrialization + economic depression + social unrest. That's actually fatal.Trade wars can be bad for Europe but its also bad for China as well. Especially now, When China is no longer contract manufacturer but active brand builder.
China is doing contract manufacturing and brand building at the same time. Check your facts. Go to your local store and find out how many Western-branded goods are still made in China.
Wrong. While the champion brands of China will be among the biggest engines for future growth, they are not the only one. China's economy is much more diverse than that. Nevertheless, the big Chinese brands are making huge inroads in the West today, despite the tariffs and the bad press that they are getting.Chinese brands will be the primary driver of China's future growth. So, Chinese branded Cars, Tvs, Computers, Phones, Apps such as Tiktok and Temu. These Chinese branded products will have much bigger profit if they have access to US, EU and other western allied markets.
But the way the new cold war is going, I feel the west will never allow Chinese branded products to have market share in the west. Just like how they killed Huawei's market access in the west, they will ban all Chinese branded products with the accusation of Spying, hacking and whatever excuse they can find.
Except for a few US poodles in West, the rest are still buying telecom products from Huawei. BYD electric buses are still being procured to run in Western cities till this day. Those 4th of July fireworks Americans like to burn, 90% are made in China. Tiktok is still a big hit, despite all the controversies. Chinese brands are big in the West because Western customers like them, not because they are Chinese. Banning them is essentially doing free marketing services for them. As the Huawei case have demonstrated.
Where did you learn your economics? Nominal GDP is not what buying power is based on, that's GDP by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)! Cost of living is much higher in the West than in China. $100 goes much further in China than the West. $100 could be spent on a meal in the West and that transaction is counted in the Nominal GDP. $100 in China could buy a couple of meals, groceries, and transport fees. Those transactions, counted for Nominal GDP is gonna be smaller. But for GDP PPP, its gonna be higher. Inflated price tags distorts the true value of the economy. If you wanna talk about economics, you should have known these things.The west has 55 billion in nominal GDP which is more than 50% of world nominal GDP. This is the biggest buying power. So, if Chinese brands are forced to just rely on Chinese market and the global south, then they will survive ofcourse but they will not have all the revenues and profits they could get. This will in turn slow down China's GDP growth rate. Over the long term, having two different tech ecosystem of China and the West is not good for China's future wealth and prosperity.
The Global South and the Chinese market should never be underestimated. The Global South is still the fastest group of growing economies on Earth. And growing economies need affordable products. The West used to fleece the Global South by selling products that they need/want at extreme margins, and with strings attached. China can provided them with a much more affordable alternative with no hidden conditions, thus it is poised to dominate that massive market. We all know what the Chinese market is like. If its so insignificant, why are Western brands lining up to get into the Chinese market? Why do some even grovel at Chinese consumers for hurting their feelings? Why are those who exited Chinese market finding out that they've lost much more that they've bargained for?
NEVER! China will NEVER KOWTOW to anyone, especially not the West. No aspiring major power should ever kowtow to the West. Japan did it, and their miracle story is over. South Korea did it, and their decline have started to manifest. Russia did it, and was nearly destroyed. If China had kowtowed to the West, the West will impoverish China and break it apart. Anyone suggesting China to kowtow to the West for its own benefit is either a white supremacist, or a moron. Never ask any nation to kowtow to the West, it is arrogant, and disrespectful.So, right now China will do anything, even kowtow if they have to stop US and EU from sanctioning Chinese branded products and apps. That's why you see Tiktok bending the knee just to maintain market access.
Tiktok didn't bend any knee, it just followed the rules of the country it is operating in. Same as what US companies need to do if they wanna do business in China. That Tiktok grilling by the US Congress was a farce, it showed Tiktok's professionalism to the world, and how retarded the US Congress are. Tiktok have prepared for the worse, and won't mind exiting the Western market. But the Western governments can't control the masses who loved Tiktok. And that scares them.
What era are you living in? The 1990s or the 2000s? Yeah, the US and Europe attacked China. Not because they are rich, but because they are arrogant pr**ks. Still, China didn't become poor again. Its economy is still growing at a healthy pace. Where are we seeing ghettos and tent cities in the urban centers? Where are we seeing fentanyl crises? Where are we seeing widespread personal insolvencies? Where are we witnessing rampant criminal activities? These are signs of a sick economy.Europe and US are already rich and can afford to attack China. But China is still poor and wants to be rich. So, it has no choice but to make concessions just to have the opportunity to become rich. Thats why China was forced to do the trade deal with Trump. They essentially bent the knee because they were in a weaker position.
Trump launched the trade war in 2018, and its ongoing till now. The result? China is winning hands down today. The US economy has never been as weak as it is now. Manufacturing in China grew, while it stagnated in the US. The US is experiencing stagflation. If it wasn't for the sacrifice of Europe, the US economy would have been in serious trouble by now.
Do not mistaken China's goodwill as weakness. China desires Western business, but it won't beg for it. If the West wanna cut off, it won't be good for China, but China is prepared to adapt. In any case, China can produce practically all essential items that it needs. What it can't produce, China will work it out eventually. The US have cut China out off the ISS. China then built its own space station. If there is any nation who can adapt, China is on the top of the list today.China will have to play a very delicate diplomatic game so that US and Europe do not become too hostile to ban everything Chinese. And this is what they are doing. When US attacks with sanctions and bans, China does not retaliate proportionally. They do a symbolic retaliation but keep asking for peace and for a deal. This is how they want to reduce US and western animosity towards China and continue to gain wealth.
This is China's biggest long term crisis, How to keep US and EU market for Chinese products over the long term.
So far I think its hopeless. The trend is extremely negative.
The West cutting off from China is gonna be even uglier. Where are they gonna get affordable common products? Where are they gonna get the stuff they need for Xmas? Local production? That's gonna cost so much more. Manufacture in SEA and India? They've tried that for well over a decade already, and it still have not weaned them off from China. Despite the population and the hype, India is not the next China, never will be. Anyone who is still betting on that is welcomed to continue betting and losing your bets.
Despite the ongoing cold war, Westerners are still buying up container loads of Chinese made products. Western youths are happily posting contents on Tiktok. Westerners are getting more curious about China thanks to the cold war, and many have found China to actually be a great nation. The Cold War launched by the Western elites is not having the desired effect, because people have access to alternative medias today.
The long term crisis is actually in the West. I would argue that they have accelerated it into a medium term crisis. You don't need to project the West's ugly situation on China. China's future is actually brighter than the West and its lackeys. The trend in the West is negative, and if they double down on their cold war, it will eventually become extremely negative.