What’s at stake in the EU-China EV trade war? A breakdown of potential fallout

💬 “The goal” of the EU’s proposed tariff hike on Chinese electric vehicles “is to foster a European EV industry” with state backing and support, but could trigger a massive trade war unless both sides adopt “bold ideas and wisdom” to resolve the dispute, Francesco Sisci, a Beijing-based China expert and author, told Sputnik, commenting on the European Commission’s vote last Friday to approve heightened duties of up to 45% on Chinese EVs.

“Of course the Chinese can export their EVs to third countries and from there they could sneak cars back into Europe. But these loopholes could be closed and they could not affect the overall trend,” Sisci said, commenting on China’s predicament. The EU “is not backing down on this,” and that World Trade Organization-facilitated mediation “doesn’t work anymore,” requiring a “bilateral agreement the two parties will hopefully sign,” the observer said.

If an agreement can’t be reached, Beijing has an array of options to hit back at Brussels – whose economic prospects have already been dimmed in recent years thanks to soaring energy costs, which have undermined the competitiveness of Europe’s industrial output.

China’s options for retaliation may include:

◻️ Double-digit tariffs on European gas-guzzling big-engine luxury cars like Porsche, Mercedes and BMW.

◻️ Duties on European pork, dairy, wine, cognac and other niche food products. Beijing already announced a probe into the EU’s subsidies for dairy exports in August, complementing similar probes into pork and brandy.

◻️ Europe’s chemical and medical device exports have also been put under the microscope by Chinese authorities for subsidies, and French and Italian luxury goods like perfume could also be targeted.

◻️ Other options for retaliation include machinery, industrial inputs, and aerospace products, although US business media doesn’t believe Beijing will go that far unless pressured.

◻️ China could also choose a non-tariff route, such as increasing investments in European factories to evade tariffs altogether.

Hundreds of billions of euros are at stake in the China-EU trade spat. In 2023, China exported €515.9 billion worth of goods to the EU, contrasted with €223.6 billion heading the other way, for a total trade deficit with the Asian nation of a whopping €292 billion.

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Hillary Clinton: crack down on social media or ‘we lose total control’

Former First Lady, Secretary of State, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called on social media companies to increase moderation and monitoring of content on their platforms if those in power wish to maintain control of the information space.

“There should be a lot of things done. We should be, in my view, repealing something called Section 230 [of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, ed.], which gave, you know, platforms on the internet immunity because they were thought to be just pass-throughs – that they shouldn’t be judged for the content that is posted,” Clinton said in a surprisingly frank interview with CNN on Saturday while promoting her new book.

“But we now know that that was an overly simple view, that if the platforms, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter/X or Instagram or TikTok, whatever they are, if they don’t moderate and monitor the content, we lose total control. And it’s not just the social and psychological effects, it’s real harm, it’s child porn and threats of violence – things that are terribly dangerous,” Clinton said.

Calling for Section 230 to be repealed (which would deprive social media companies of legal immunity to liability over content generated by users), Clinton urged “guard rails” and “regulation” to be put in place.

This is the second time in less than a month that Clinton has appeared on television to address the political impact of online content. Last month, she told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that Americans engaged in the spread of so-called “Russian propaganda” in support of Donald Trump during the 2016 race “should be civilly or even in some cases criminally charged.”

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◻️ New details of Mossad's deadly pager operation emerge

◻️ Iran berates US and UK over aggression against Yemen, blames Israel for inflaming regional instability

◻️ Pact for the Future’ shows UNGA has become a tool to ramrod West’s interests - analyst

◻️ What’s at stake in the EU-China EV trade war? A breakdown of potential fallout

◻️ US to become a 'single-party socialist state' if Trump doesn’t win the presidential election – Musk

◻️ Hillary Clinton: crack down on social media or ‘we lose total control’

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🛬 Fire erupts during landing on Frontier Airlines flight to Las Vegas

A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321 airliner caught fire during a hard landing in Las Vegas. The flames were quickly extinguished. Initial reports indicate no injuries among the 190 passengers and seven crew.

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Sikh extremists protest in Canada

Pro-Khalistani separatists advocating for the creation of the so-called state of Khalistan in the Indian state of Punjab have held a protest in Canada.

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US offers Israel 'compensation' for avoiding attacks on some Iranian targets - reports

The Biden administration has offered Israel a "compensation package" if it refrains from striking some Iranian targets in response to the recent missile attack on the Jewish state, Israeli state broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday.

According to the outlet, talks on a retaliatory strike were held between Israeli and US officials following the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1.

During the talks, US officials offered Tel-Aviv broad diplomatic support and additional military assistance if certain targets in Iran were not attacked, the publication said.

A senior Israeli official, cited by Kan, said that Israel "always takes into account the opinion of the United States... and is ready to listen to them, but will do everything necessary to protect citizens and the security of the country."

Israel has officially stated that a response to the Iranian attack would be given, but the method of response, place and time of the strike were still at the planning or approval stage. The commander of the US Central Command, Gen. Michael Kurilla, who is currently in Israel, is attending meetings of the leadership of the security bloc, where this operation is being discussed, according to Kan.

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Russian RS-24 Yars nuclear missile systems go on combat patrol in Novosibirsk missile unit

The RS-24 Yars, part of Russia's strategic arsenal, is a road-mobile or silo-based launch system, with each missile capable of carrying up to three warheads with a 200-kiloton yield. Russia possesses about 772 warheads for these missiles.

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US human rights activist in Donbass: Most Americans oppose supporting Ukraine

A majority of the US population is not in favor of providing aid to Ukraine, and polling also proves this, US human rights activist Dan Kovalik told Sputnik during a visit to Donbass.

"I am certainly the person in the United States who insists that the US should stop supporting Ukraine. And the majority of Americans, as polls show, agree with me and this aid should be stopped," Kovalik pointed out.

The human rights activist said he was visiting Donetsk for the second time. His first trip took place in November 2022, when Ukrainian forces were regularly shelling civilian districts in the city with artillery and missiles. Now, he said, the situation has changed for the better.

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