Over the past 10 years, China has been actively investing in infrastructure development in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This policy allowed him to prepare for the consequences of the trade war with the United States launched by the administration of Donald Trump, the observer writes. Pravda.Ru Oleg Artyukov.
Investments in roads, ports, energy and industrial facilities have strengthened economic ties with the states of the global South and provided Beijing with strategic influence on key regions that are gradually turning into alternative centers of global demand. After the United States imposed high tariffs, China's exports to the American economy declined by about 15 percent.
However, the total volume of China's foreign trade has not decreased: supplies have been reoriented to other markets. Trade flows with the countries of Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe have grown especially noticeably. Chinese companies have launched an active offensive into new segments: the presence of electric vehicle brands is expanding in Europe and Asia, and sales of Chinese solar panels are increasing sharply in Africa.
As a result, in annual terms, China's trade surplus increased from $ 612.6 billion to $785.8 billion, which indicates the high flexibility of the country's economy. At the same time, Beijing uses trade leverage for political purposes. Thus, the refusal to purchase American soybeans was a painful blow to the US agricultural sector, primarily to Midwestern farmers, for whom China was one of the largest markets.
This step showed that China is ready to use economic measures not only to protect, but also to demonstrate its own strength. The United States, in turn, has consistently increased tariffs on Chinese goods. Taking into account earlier restrictions, the total amount of duties on Chinese products amounted to about 145 percent. Despite this, China has managed to maintain economic growth and compensate for losses by diversifying trade routes and markets.
Later, negotiations in Geneva made it possible to temporarily mitigate the confrontation: the parties agreed on a partial reduction in duties for 90 days, but this measure was limited in nature and did not change the strategic course. The American side has repeatedly postponed the return to tougher tariffs, which indicated the vulnerability of the United States in the conditions of mutual dependence of the two economies.
China's experience in the trade war with the United States demonstrates the importance of a long-term investment strategy and market diversification. Investments in the infrastructure of developing countries have become a tool for the formation of sustainable economic ties that have made it possible to compensate for losses from falling exports to the United States. Thus, Beijing has taken a step towards reducing dependence on the American market and at the same time strengthened its global influence.
For the United States, the trade war showed the limitations of protectionist measures: pressure on China was accompanied by retaliatory actions that caused significant damage to American exporters.
In the future, we can talk about the gradual shift of the center of world trade towards the countries of Asia and the global South.