Ralph Jennings

6 days ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

The deadly earthquake in Myanmar last month may have disrupted production of critical minerals that are normally sold to China, casting further uncertainty over global rare earth supplies at a key juncture for international trade. The 7.7-magnitude quake in late March could have damaged mining equipment, affected mine safety and blocked transport routes in Myanmar, which is China’s largest foreign supplier of rare earth elements, analysts say.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

Chinese developers of small aircraft for uncrewed low-altitude cargo and passenger flights are exploring foreign markets for long-term diversification, including the United States despite newly imposed 145 per cent import tariffs. An expected rise in demand abroad has put countries from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates on the radars of Chinese firms that make everything from drones the size of a tablet PC to self-piloting e-taxis that can seat a person.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

China’s growth could drop by as much as one percentage point this year if soaring US import tariffs hold up, but its increasingly deep ties with Southeast Asia can help offset that loss, a regional economic surveillance body said on Tuesday. US import tariffs of 145 per cent on Chinese shipments will limit expansion of the world’s second-largest economy to a “quite optimistic” 4.8 per cent this year, said Hoe Ee Khor, chief economist with the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

There was no time to rest. With American companies facing the threat of punishing tariffs from China, Jeff Bowman started selling fast. It was March 31, and the CEO of a company in the US state of Colorado had already watched as US President Donald Trump imposed additional duties on Chinese imports totalling 20 per cent – on their way to a whopping 145 per cent this week.

2 weeks ago | scmp.com | Kandy Wong |Ralph Jennings

While US President Donald Trump’s Wednesday announcement of a 90-day pause on the punitive levies he had aimed at most other nations is a “a tactical retreat”, analysts said, “no one should relax” as this does not augur any shift in his overall objectives. Amid this “retreat”, tariffs on imports from China were raised to 125 per cent following a retaliatory increase in tariffs from Beijing.