Peter Landers

1 month ago | wsj.com | Peter Landers

The Philippines has become the third Asia-Pacific nation to cut interest rates this week, with the central bank on Thursday moving to lower its benchmark lending rate to 6% from 6.25%. On Wednesday, central banks in New Zealand and India also eased policy by a quarter percentage point, following a similar move by the European Central Bank in March. “The global economy is going through a period of exceptional uncertainties,” said Reserve Bank of India Gov. Sanjay Malhotra.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Peter Landers

A worker at a machinery manufacturing company in Hangzhou, China. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)When you export more than $400 billion in goods to the U.S. a year and the U.S. suddenly imposes a 125% tariff on them, that’s a problem—and China’s plight is worsened because it was already suffering from a real-estate slump and weak consumer demand. A vicious cycle of factory closures and falling corporate investment could be next. What can Beijing do to prevent it?

1 month ago | wsj.com | Peter Landers

The current score: U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are at least 104%, while Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods rise to 84% on Thursday. Here’s the tit-for-tat since President Trump’s second inauguration:Part 1, February-MarchU.S.: Trump inherits tariffs imposed on China during his first administration and the Biden administration. He adds 20% to the inherited tariffs in two stages, citing what he calls China’s role in the fentanyl trade. China: Says it isn’t responsible for the U.S. fentanyl problem.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Tripti Lahiri |Ryan Dube |Peter Landers

South Korea’s Kia and Hyundai vehicles are among the top selling worldwide. (Kim gong-Ji/Reuters)Seoul showed that tariffs and other protectionist policies, in rare cases, can have desired results. A half-century ago, Hyundai Motors was little known, a company protected by a virtual ban on imported cars and then high tariffs.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Tripti Lahiri |Ryan Dube |Peter Landers

Garment workers at a factory in southern India. (Samuel Rajkumar/Reuters)India, in the decades after its 1947 independence from Britain, went with an import-substitution policy—which sought to replace imports with locally produced goods—designed to create homegrown factories by leveling high tariffs. The plan failed to create a vibrant high-growth economy. Then, in the two decades following a financial crisis in 1991, India dropped tariffs to an average of 13% from 125% on trade partners.