Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Starving the Dragon

The Wall Street Journal reports (behind paywall) something quoted at length by Stephen Green, posted at Instapundit. Its title is instructive:

Chinese Exports Fall at Steepest Pace Since February 2020.

China’s exports to the rest of the world tumbled in July, adding to the challenges for the world’s second-largest economy and offering fresh evidence that a drying up of Western demand is hurting Beijing’s attempts to rekindle growth.

Worsening geopolitical tensions between Beijing and the U.S.-led West have also prompted some Western manufacturers to reduce their reliance on China’s supply chain, which in turn is expected to erode trade ties between the two sides.

Compared with those of a year earlier, China’s exports to the U.S. and European Union plunged by more than 20% each last month. There was a lone bright spot: Chinese shipments to Russia soared in July, calculations from the customs data show.

China thrives in direct proportion to how much we buy from them. Buying less is a non-belligerent way to starve the dragon. Keep up the good work.