- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
China has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on American exports following President Trump's plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Agricultural exports are in the crosshairs, reported Thaddeus Miller in the Merced Sun-Star.
China's tariffs would first hit U.S. products such as avocados and nuts with 15 percent duties, the article says.
"It doesn't really matter which one it is, whether it's alfalfa, almonds or wherever it may go," said David Doll, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Merced County. "They're as much political as they are anything...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Berkeley economics professor Barry Eichengren supplied three reasons in a Business Insider blog why he believes a slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy is on the horizon.
For one, slowdowns are more likely in countries where the manufacturing sector’s share of employment exceeds 20 percent, since it then becomes necessary to shift workers into services, where productivity growth is slower, Eichengren said.
Further, slowdowns come earlier in economies with undervalued currencies. Currency undervaluation, he said, may boost economic growth in the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The recent U.S. visit by China's president Hu Jintau has California experts considering opportunities for trade with the world's most populous country, according to an article in the Bakersfield Californian.
The story said China's manipulation of its currency is among the most significant barriers to trade between the two countries. China has resisted currency reform, but a CSU Bakersfield economist told reporter Courtenay Edelhart that the country will have to adapt if it wants to realize its superpower aspirations.
Edelhart spoke to UC Davis agricultural economist