When will I have a long tassel?

France, Kailan Machine Tools Company.

Chairman Thorat met with cabinet official Carmine in his office. Accompanying him was the company's sales director Domik.

"Mr. Carmine, we haven't seen each other for some days, why did you come to me when you had time?" Solat asked with a smile.

"My old friend, you should know that I have always been assigned to do all kinds of unpleasant things. Therefore, when I come to you this time, I am afraid I will cause you trouble. I hope you don't blame me. That's good." Carmine made a grimace and gave Thorat the vaccination.

The smile on Sorat's face continued, and he said: "Carmine, don't say such hurtful words. I know that no matter what you do, you are acting under orders, and what you do is just your duty. How could I blame you? I'm just curious, what tricks is the cabinet trying to pull off this time?"

"I think you should have heard about it. It happened at the last G7 meeting." Carmine said cryptically.

"Are you saying that our government has decided to follow the Americans' arrangements and attack China?" Solat asked.

"Perhaps this is also for the benefit of Europe." Carmine argued, but his words sounded a little lacking in confidence. It was obvious that he did not believe this rhetoric.

The G7 meeting was held last month. There were many reports on this meeting in the media. Sorat had some connections in the government, so he also learned some inside information that was not easy to disclose in the media.

This G7 meeting is basically a one-man show by the United States, and other countries were summoned by the United States, or, according to some extreme commentators, were coerced into it by the United States.

The United States only discussed one issue at the meeting, which was how to contain China's development.

As soon as the US leader came to power, he launched a trade war against China. He has significantly increased tariffs on goods imported from China, launched anti-dumping investigations on some Chinese goods, and used administrative measures to force US-owned companies in China to move out of China.

These methods often appeared in international trade in the past. But it is very unusual for a big country like the United States to attack another big country with such great force and multiple means at the same time.

The commander-in-chief is a businessman and has always been good at using extreme pressure tactics. He believes that the containment measures against China carried out by his predecessors were too weak and failed to achieve the effect of sealing the throat with one sword. He wants to surpass his predecessors and complete his achievements in one battle, using a set of fierce combination punches to defeat China in one fell swoop. Return to original shape.

There is a basis for the commander-in-chief to think this way. In the past few years, the international economic community has conducted a multi-faceted evaluation of China's economy, and one of the conclusions drawn is that China's economic development has completely benefited from international trade. According to some economists' calculations, China's dependence on foreign trade It has reached more than 150%. In other words, if China's foreign trade all returns to zero, the GDP growth rate will become negative and China will fall into depression.

So, can the US's attack bring China's foreign trade to zero? The answer given by economists is yes.

These economists believe that China has no core competitiveness, lacks originality, has large but not strong industries, and is just a weak giant. Some scholars have used various deviant data to conclude that China's economy has actually collapsed.

If these economists were all Americans, the commander-in-chief might still have some doubts about their views. The key is that a considerable number of scholars who believe that China’s economy has collapsed are from China. These people are big-name experts from various universities and research institutes in China. In theory, they should have mastered the country's most core data. From a standpoint, they should also be inclined to speak well of China.

But even this group of people believe that China's economy is fragile, exaggerated, and will collapse in one blow. How can the generals not believe it?

A blitzkrieg on international trade began. When the commander-in-chief did not give China any response, he directly promulgated a number of decrees and began to strangle the Chinese economy from all angles.

The thunder was loud and the raindrops were dense. When the trade war first started, China was indeed caught off guard. The export orders of many companies were suddenly cancelled, some international cooperation was suddenly interrupted, and many foreign-funded companies in China were ready to move abroad.

The public opinion field was even more lively. A large number of experts and scholars spoke out and predicted that "this year will be the most difficult year." However, netizens found out that they have made the same prediction every year for the past ten years. Some public accounts put together sporadic cases from various places, claiming that China has seen a "wave of foreign capital flight," a "wave of bankruptcy," and a "wave of unemployment," which has frightened many mentally fragile people.

After a period of commotion, people began to slowly come to their senses. The trade war is indeed ongoing, but the lives of ordinary people will continue to go on. To survive, you cannot live without pots, pans, socks and shirts. China is the world’s factory. Half of the world’s goods are produced in China. No matter how many decrees the commander-in-chief issues, they can replace a production base with 200 million industrial workers. ?

The U.S. wholesalers who were the first to cancel orders from Chinese suppliers came back with sullen expressions on their faces. The quantity of the original goods still needs to be increased by a few percent, because the Christmas holiday is coming soon, and no one knows what evil moth the commander-in-chief will come up with next. Why not prepare more goods while we can still import them?

The commander-in-chief has increased import tariffs, and someone will always have to bear these additional tariffs. According to the thinking of American wholesalers, these tariffs should of course be borne by Chinese suppliers, and the way to bear them is to lower the ex-factory price.

"Otherwise, we will have to consider purchasing from other places."

This is the threat from American wholesalers.

"I'm sorry, our past price is already the cost price, and it is impossible to lower the price. As for purchasing from other places, well, that's up to you."

Chinese suppliers have a very mild attitude and a firm stance.

"Otherwise, each of our two families should bear half of it."

American wholesalers took a step back.

There is no way. Chinese products are cheap and reliable in quality, and have long been recognized by American consumers. If you purchase a batch of products from Southeast Asia, even if the price is cheaper, consumers will not accept it. What's more, American consumers are used to being extravagant and buy everything by the dozen. Which country other than China can supply the needs of more than 300 million people?

"It is impossible to reduce prices. For the sake of many years of cooperation, the products this time will still be at the old price. However, for the next batch of products, we will increase the price by 10%..."

replied the Chinese supplier.

"Why do you want to increase the price?"

"Because the trade war initiated by your country has increased our production costs."

"But if this happens, we will have no profit at all."

"You can also raise prices. Just let American consumers bear the tariffs. By the way, these tariffs are collected by the U.S. government anyway, so just think that the American people are sharing the country's worries..."

As a result, trade resumed, and its scale even increased by 10% or 20% compared to before. Wholesale merchants in the United States want to stock up on goods, and American consumers are also worried that commodity prices will rise further in the future, so they have also increased their purchases.

Different from the situation described by experts, Chinese products are not uncompetitive. Even if additional import tariffs are imposed, it will not affect the favor of American consumers. However, when Americans purchase these goods, they will have to pay a large sum of money to the commander-in-chief.

Large-scale manufacturing reshoring to the United States did not occur. Although the general leadership participated in high-profile groundbreaking ceremonies for several companies to build factories in the United States, this was only of symbolic significance. The number of companies returning to the United States is very small, far less than the number of companies leaving the United States during the same period. Moreover, many companies that claimed to return to the United States had no other news after holding press conferences. Their statement is actually just to give the commander-in-chief a face. As for actually returning to the United States for production, then haha. Does the United States still have the soil for the manufacturing industry to survive?

Facing the bankruptcy of the trade war, the commander-in-chief became anxious and angry. According to folklore, he ate several boxes of Niuhuang Jiedu Pills alone, which contributed hundreds of dollars to the U.S.-China trade deficit.

After listening to reports from multiple departments, the commander-in-chief began to realize that the conclusions of economists he had seen before were unreliable. China was not as vulnerable as the economists described. On the contrary, the United States has declined far more than in the past. The combination of punches he performed is very dazzling, but without the blessing of internal strength, it is just some showmanship.

The G7 meeting was held against this background. The plenipotentiary representative sent by the Grand Commander conveyed the Grand Commander's instructions at the meeting: The Group of Seven must work together and act together to achieve comprehensive containment of China.

"In other words, the United States alone is no longer able to contain China?"

Thorat asked Carmine a pointed question.

"Old friend, this is a well-known thing, why do you need to say it clearly?" Carmine said.

"But, what good does this matter do to us in Europe?" Solat asked, "The American leader wants to contain China because China's development threatens the hegemony of the United States. For Europe, someone wants to challenge the status of the United States. , but it is a good thing. It will give Europe more room to maneuver in international affairs.

“In the fight between the United States and China, Europe can play the middle and profit from it, and both parties must please us. And if we help the United States defeat China, the United States will still be superior to Europe in the future, forcing us to accept various unreasonable political and economic arrangements.

"From this point of view, Europe should not tie itself to the American chariot at all. Waiting and watching is our best choice."