BHP - Price Chart, page-564

You are on the money.
Most don't realise the massive tariffs imposed by Asian countries on US made cars and wine for example. Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia have 300% to 400% tariffs on many US made goods, therefore people in those countries cannot afford to buy an American car or must pay $50 for a bottle of wine ( normally should sell for $8.)

Contrary what what most Trump haters think, there are sound reasons why Trump is applying tariffs on countries who have high tariffs on US made goods as well as deliberate offshoring by China to avoid US tariffs. Most punters in Australia are completely unaware of what has been going on as Aussie media is either silent or evasive on this issue. China is also planning to flood Australia with cheap EV's, problem is most will be bankrupt within a year or two resulting in no warranty or spare parts available.

‘All-round blockade’: Trump tariffs hit China’s offshore factories


Tokyo | Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs have piled pressure on China’s already-squeezed manufacturers, with the new levies not only hitting direct exports but those from Chinese operations across South-East Asia.
The double hit undermines Beijing’s central strategy for getting around trade barriers thrown up by the US president during his first mandate.
China-watchers say Beijing’s efforts to fortify the country against the latest wave of tariffs – including fiscal and monetary stimulus to encourage more household spending and investment – may not be enough to save some parts of the country’s manufacturing heartland.

Gantry cranes and shipping containers at the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. Bloomberg
“Outwardly China is cocky that they have the system to withstand pressure more than Western economies,” Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, said.
“But the cost internally will be very high. Trump can really damage China and they know it.”


Despite years of reforms aimed at rebalancing the economy towards domestic consumption, exports still account for nearly 21 per cent of the country’s GDP.
Macquarie estimates that the new tariffs, of 34 per cent for a total just this year of 54 per cent, could shave 15 percentage points off China’s exports and between 2 and 2.5 percentage points off its projected GDP growth rate of 5 per cent.
Chinese companies shifted some operations to South-East Asia to save costs while getting around Trump tariffs during his first mandate. These companies – largely consumer electronics – are back in the firing line, with last week’s trade taxes falling heavily on countries at the heart of this diversification strategy.
US imports from Vietnam for one now face a 46 per cent tariff, while those from Thailand attract a 36 per cent impost. China’s direct exports to these countries could also suffer as their economies weaken under the strain of Trump’s tariffs.
“How key reshoring economies respond to reciprocal tariffs will dictate how China’s exporters look to invest in the future, particularly for consumer goods supply chain players,” Eugene Hasio, head of Chinese equities at Macquarie, said.
Chinese consumer goods companies such as Apple supplier Luxshare, electric vehicle giant BYD, and glasses manufacturer Sunny Optical have all committed billions of dollars to expanding operations in Vietnam.

Last year, Sunny Optical announced a $US2.5 billion plan to build a new production complex in northern Vietnam, while Luxshare announced an additional $US330 million to expand its Vietnamese plant.
BYD, meanwhile, has large EV production facilities in Thailand and Indonesia.
“These investments are difficult to change, and there is very little space for Chinese manufacturers, on the mainland or in South-East Asia to absorb the tariffs,” Chim Lee, senior analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, said.
One growing threat is how countries respond to a world where cheap Chinese goods flood the global market further, looking for new homes.
Europe, which flagged it would retaliate with tariffs on US goods if negotiations fail, has taken steps to prohibit the dumping of cheap Chinese EV to protect its manufacturing industry.
As goods flood the global market looking for new homes, economists fear Europe, Japan and South Korea will put up tariffs to protect themselves and their industries.

“One of the reasons the Great Depression lasted so long was because countries engaged in tit-for-tat tariff hikes,” Barry Eichengreen, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said.
J.P. Morgan has revised up the chances of a global recession by year-end to 60 per cent, from 40 per cent.
While China’s authorities have tried to project confidence in their capacity to absorb these measures, the reality is that waves of Chinese companies are likely to go bankrupt without access to the US market.
“There is a sense of defiance among [China] counterparts,” Ryan Hass, foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institute, said. “They argue PRC governance system and society is better able to withstand pain than US.”
But China’s economy has been softening for several years and never properly recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Youth unemployment remains high at around 20 per cent, and broader unemployment climbed to 5.4 per cent in February, its highest level in two years.

A recent survey by Chinese recruitment agency Liepin showed that 19 per cent of mainland companies planned to cut staff in the first quarter of this year, up from 12 per cent a year ago.
And those with jobs in China have found their salaries slashed, particularly in sectors like finance and real estate. Urban wage growth slumped to 2.6 per cent in the third quarter last year, down from 5.6 per cent in the first quarter, according to Goldman Sachs.
In March, Beijing introduced 30 measures specifically designed to stimulate household consumption, targeting the country’s vast 157 trillion yuan ($34 trillion) in household savings.
“Chinese policymakers are more likely to roll out further stimulus measures, and we think this will be enough to offset any damaging effects of the tariffs,” Lee said.