Crypto News: Supply Lines: Trade coercion’s limits

It was billed early on as a David-and-Goliath contest of trading nations, and it seems the bigger combatant failed to win this fight, too.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to China on Saturday for the first visit to the world's leading exporter by a leader from Down Under since 2016.

As Bloomberg reports today, Albanese's visit is sign that China has given up on its campaign to punish Canberra for a host of perceived transgressions — among them, its sparking of a diplomatic uproar for questioning the origin of Covid-19 and criticizing of human rights violations.

The broader lesson in the rapprochement, experts say, is that economic coercion — the phrase western nations use to describe China's deployment of trade policy pressure — has its limits. Australia's farmers and miners found other markets and the economy as a whole showed limited signs of strains.

Another perhaps unintended consequence: The Group of Seven nations made criticism of "economic coercion" a key part of their agenda this year and created a "coordination platform" to fight against it. The European Union launched a new "anti-coercion instrument" this year to protect its member countries.

Related Reading on Bloomberg.com:

—James Mayger in Osaka

State Support | Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the German government is in productive talks with Siemens Energy over as much as €16 billion in loan guarantees. "Siemens Energy is a very important company," Scholz said Friday during a press conference in Brussels. "I can report that we're in very good and confidential discussions." Germany's Economy Ministry, led by the Green party's Robert Habeck, is prepared to support the company, viewing it as a strategic asset that will play an important role in protecting energy supplies, according to people familiar with the ministry's position.

There is growing evidence that Apple's latest iPhone is falling shy of its predecessor in China, suggesting a setback for the company in its most important overseas market.
The US on Friday imposed new sanctions intended to cut off financing to Hamas, nearly three weeks after the militant group's assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The US Commerce Department is halting exports of most US-made firearms for 90 days and reviewing its support of the country's biggest gun trade show to ensure such backing "does not undermine US policy interests"
China's ambassador to the European Union labeled the bloc's probe into its electric vehicle subsidies as "unjustified and regrettable" and warned against any future trade measures that would penalize its clean-tech industry.
The US won't be able to stop Chinese firms including Semiconductor Manufacturing International and Huawei from making progress in chip technology, according to one of the semiconductor industry's leading figures.
India and the UK don't expect a free-trade agreement to be announced until after state elections in the South Asian nation are completed in December, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Saudi Arabia is looking to sign more free trade agreements and still considering joining the BRICS club of emerging nations, as it looks to boost non-oil exports.

War is still raging in Ukraine as the invasion approaches its two-year anniversary. Conflict also has returned to the Middle East, and some fear risks are rising in Asia-Pacific. Against this backdrop, President Biden has said the US will once again serve as the "arsenal of democracy" and support its partners with weapons and more, Bloomberg Economics says.
Global container rates declined to $1,341 per 40-foot container in the latest week, according to the World Container Index. Rate support appears elusive for the industry as supply growth is set to outpace demand through 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence says.
Run SPLC after an equity ticker on Bloomberg to show critical data about a company's suppliers, customers and peers.
Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
For freight dashboards, see {BI RAIL}, {BI TRCK} and {BI SHIP} and {BI 3PLS}
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