GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON #240
Trump imposed $bns of tariffs on China – clothes/footwear/food. But Biden has done little to make a change. Trump Continues Under Biden.
The tariffs are deeply unpopular with US business but Biden, with an eye on 2022 Congressional Midterm Elections, believes weakness on China will injure Democrats at the ballot box. Others think Biden arrived in office without a China policy + is struggling for a strategy.
All this just as Apple’s supply chain in China has strengthened. As the FT reports, getting into Apple’s supply chain is a “golden ticket” for China’s suppliers eager to become the best in the world.
Conclusion? the competitive advantages conferred by China’s supply chain outweighs political pressure from Biden to “decouple”. Add in the decisions of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Black Rock, Schroeders to commit big funds to business expansion in China + access to untapped savings of China’s ageing population and you realise that isolating China is a politician’s dream shattered by business people’s commercial realism. Co-operation or Confrontation?
More this time tomorrow + every day.
