News Analysis South Korea, heavily dependent on exports to China, has seen its exports deteriorate further due to China’s economic downturn. Exports to China, once Korea’s largest trade surplus, have turned into its largest deficit since 2023. According to statistics released by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) in late March, South Korea’s trade balance…

China has hit Taiwan with several economic sanctions following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to the island. Among them is a ban on natural sand export to Taiwan aimed at hurting some of its industries, including semiconductors. However, Chinese media recently disclosed that China does not produce the high-purity sand required for chipmaking…

WASHINGTON—U.S. President Joe Biden’s team is still looking at options on whether to cut tariffs on Chinese imports to ease inflation, the White House said on Tuesday as industry requests to maintain the duties mounted. More than 400 requests to keep tariffs in place on Chinese goods had been submitted to the U.S. Trade Representative’s…

South Korea has announced its participation in the U.S.-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) to cut its heavy reliance on Chinese mineral and raw materials imports. The announcement of joining the MSP came shortly after South Korea’s decision in May to participate in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). IPEF outlines the United States’ key priorities…

South Korea’s auto industry has become increasingly dependent on China for parts, leading to calls for supply chain diversification. Cho Chul, an analyst with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), a government-funded think tank, recently highlighted how automobile parts imports from China have increased over the past two decades. “China only accounted…

A group of bipartisan senators have written a letter to President Joe Biden asking that he maintain the tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by the Trump administration. The senators, led by Republican Rob Portman, point out that the United States had imposed tariffs on $370 billion worth of Chinese goods in response to Beijing’s “discriminatory…

South Korea’s major industries are experiencing supply disruptions in core components as the pandemic lockdowns in China show no end in sight. With the country’s high dependence on Chinese imports, any disruption in the supply chain would threaten the South Korean economy, according to a recent study. Under the severe disruptions to the Chinese supply…

Japan flagged its supply-side vulnerabilities in a recent report, highlighting risks posed by the country’s heavy dependence on Chinese imports. On Feb. 3, Japan’s Cabinet Office released the latest edition of its twice-yearly World Economic Trends report. The report analyzes Japanese, American, and German goods trade with China, underscoring Japan’s larger share of imports from…

BEIJING—Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate, and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with the Chinese regime’s new food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan. 1 deadline looms. The regime’s customs authority published new food safety rules in April stipulating that…

FRANKFURT—Germany’s Green Party’s chancellor candidate said the European Union should impose tougher barriers for Chinese imports to prevent dumping and poor environmental standards. “We have to uphold standards when there is dumping in other world regions,” Greens candidate Annalena Baerbock told Sunday paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview. “This could for instance take the…