MetaFilter posts tagged with trade and China

It’s 1929 again

Abiezer — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:47:32 -0800

Can China Adjust to the US Adjustment? Prof. Michael Pettis of Beijing University on the macroeconomic parallels between the present crisis and that of the 1930s, with China playing the role today that the US played back then.

The $1.4 Trillion Question

afu — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:30:14 -0800

"Through the quarter-century in which China has been opening to world trade, Chinese leaders have deliberately held down living standards for their own people and propped them up in the United States. This is the real meaning of the vast trade surplus—$1.4 trillion and counting, going up by about $1 billion per day—that the Chinese government has mostly parked in U.S. Treasury notes. In effect, every person in the (rich) United States has over the past 10 years or so borrowed about $4,000 from someone in the (poor) People’s Republic of China." James Fallows on how the trade deficit between China and America works and what it means for the future.

Obligatory accreditation system for IT security products

caddis — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:12:41 -0800

Give us your secrets. The Chinese government plans order foreign manufacturers to reveal information about their digital products, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday. It will introduce rules requiring foreign firms to disclose secret information about digital household appliances and other products from May next year, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing unnamed sources. If a company refuses to disclose information, China would ban it from exporting the product to the Chinese market or producing or selling it in China, the paper said. This is lightly sourced, so, lacking a second independent source, it is offered in the spirit of Drudge. Anyway, if true this could seriously harm trade. From the Yomiuri article:

Specifically, foreign companies will be obliged to disclose relevant products' source code, or a sequence of statements written in computer programming language designed to control digital appliances and other high-tech products. The system, whereby manufacturers will be allowed to sell their products on the Chinese market only after they pass tests based on disclosed source code and inspections by an accreditation body, is said to be unprecedented. Products expected to be subject to the system are those equipped with secret coding, such as the Felica contactless smart card system developed by Sony Corp., digital copiers and computer servers. The Chinese government said it needs the source code to prevent computer viruses taking advantage of software vulnerabilities and to shut out hackers. However, this explanation is unlikely to satisfy concerns that disclosed information might be handed from the Chinese government to Chinese companies.

Considering the propensity for knockoffs from some Chinese manufacturers one can understand the fears. Unprecedented though? I have seen them make similar requests of highly proprietary validation testing procedures for chemical and biological processes. If this story holds true, expect fireworks from the US and Japan among others.

Made in China

srboisvert — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:49:25 -0800

Made in China. A look inside the world’s manufacturing center. Flash video slideshow of the port of Shenzhen (7:00 minutes with sound)

As slippery as an eel

SaintCynr — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:44:41 -0800

5 types of Chinese fish subject to temporary import ban. Melamine in farmed fish. The safety of fish farming in question. Are we risking a trade war with China over food? Some see an upside to food globalization. China's loss may be the Gulf Coast's gain. Previously on Mefi

Brilliantcrank — Tue, 19 Sep 2000 20:56:53 -0800

Is everyone asleep at the wheel? "The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to normalize trade with China, marking a turning point in a half-century of stormy relations between the world’s strongest power and its most populous nation. In return, trade relations will no longer hinge on China’s human rights record, a link that has long irritated Beijing." It is a sad day for human rights in China.

Brilliantcrank — Wed, 24 May 2000 09:57:53 -0800

China, our new buddy It seems like history may be made today. I hope that if China does receive favorable trade status that it will go to improve human life in that nation and improve ties between our countries. I'd like to buy China a Coke...