Good ol’ Turkey has decided to slap some new tariffs on auto exports coming from China. Seems like Turkey is just one of many developing nations that want to shield their local industries from what they see as China producing too much stuff.
The Turkish Trade Ministry is throwing a 40 percent tariff party for both traditional and hybrid cars scooting over from China. The goal? Pump up the local car-making scene that’s been on a bit of a downslide lately.
According to Xinhua, a Chinese bigshot media outlet, sources have whispered that China’s stake in Tukey’s car game could skyrocket to over 4.5 percent by 2023, eyeing a whopping 10 percent next year.
All this commotion is happening while China is catching heat from the U.S., Europe, and other places for allegedly dropping too many subsidized products into the market, messing with everybody else’s sales. China, of course, insists it’s all fair game and just wants to grow its economy legit.
More and more trading buds from the Global South are now jumping on the bandwagon of complaints. Places like Brazil, Mexico, and Chile are throwing in tariffs to fend off a flood of Chinese goods, fearing they might steal local jobs.
Bloomberg reports that Latin American countries are gearing up for a faceoff with China over these tariffs, testing the waters to see where China stands and what these nations are willing to do to protect their economic turf.
Across the pond in Europe, the European Commission is about to drop some tariffs on Chinese electric cars. These moves could light a fire under the trade tensions between China and the EU.
The Biden crew and European leaders are all pointing fingers at China for giving their businesses an unfair disadvantage thanks to those state subsidies.
And on the other side of the globe, little Guatemala is having its own tiff with China. Rumor has it that China, Guatemala’s top trade buddy, put a lid on all the goods crossing over from Guatemala – coffee, sugar, macadamias – the whole shebang.
Word on the street is that this trade freeze may have something to do with Guatemala hanging out with Taiwan a bit too much for China’s liking. Guatemala’s prez chatted up Taiwan’s leader, and China wasn’t too pleased about it. China claims Taiwan as its own, you see.
When asked about the embargo, China’s Foreign Ministry rep said the situation wasn’t vibing well for trade between the two nations or for Guatemalan goodies to head China’s way.
Statistics show that Chinese exports are up by 7.6%, but it seems like the pace is cooling down compared to previous months. Looks like there might be some more bumps ahead in the trading world.