CATL and SMIC are two giant Chinese companies that are often singled out by Western think tanks as two firms who benefit from China’s subsidies, at the expense of foreign competition.
But all industrialized countries employ government subsidies, which help favored domestic industries grow. China, however, uniquely can invest in preferred sectors by channeling its massive trading surpluses, and providing low-cost access to its world-leading supply chains and logistics systems.
In contrast, North American and European companies who seek government incentives and subsidies are competing with other spending priorities, as all the funds come from taxpayers. This reality requires of companies seeking government help to do so through proxies, lobbying efforts, and through think-tanks who create research that can be published and used by lawmakers to justify the use of taxpayer funds.
China’s enormous subsidies come from trading profits. US and European subsidies come from taxpayers
Tag: Subsidies
Intel shares fall 20% on plans to cut 15,000 jobs
Intel on Thursday revealed drastic plans to slash its employee headcount and capital spending in an attempt to put its business back on a stable financial footing, as it suffered the latest setback in its slow-moving turnaround plans.
Related:
US CHIPS Act Funding for Intel
On March 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel Corporation announced a preliminary memorandum of terms under which Intel will receive approximately $8.5 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. Funding will help advance Intel’s critical semiconductor manufacturing and research and development projects at sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon – U.S. locations where the company produces some of the world’s most advanced chips and semiconductor packaging technologies.
Meanwhile, in China:
China’s ‘basic self-sufficiency’ in chip-making tools could come this summer, veteran says
US gov’t-linked firm is source of exit poll claiming Venezuelan opposition won election

Venezuela’s opposition and US media outlets claim there was fraud in the July 28 election based on an exit poll done by US government-linked firm Edison Research, which works with CIA-linked US state propaganda organs and was active in Ukraine, Georgia, and Iraq.
US gov’t-linked firm is source of exit poll claiming Venezuelan opposition won election
Related:
The US government funds election observers and exit polls for regime change
All of my recent posts about the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election are linked below:
As predicted: violence by the far-right Venezuelan opposition breaks out across Caracas
The ‘Israel Lobby’ Works for the US Military Industrial Complex
Since publication of John Mearsheimer’s and Stephen Walt’s ‘The Israel Lobby’ in 2007, superior public relations has served as the main explanation for the outsized influence that the nation of Israel holds over American politicians. In that telling, AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and other supporters of Israel built a sophisticated and far-reaching public relations machine that promotes US politicians who support Israel and punishes those who don’t.
The ‘Israel Lobby’ Works for the US Military Industrial Complex – by Rob Urie – 27 June 2024
H/T: xenagoguevicene
Chinese Company Under Congressional Scrutiny Makes Key U.S. Drugs
Lawmakers raising national security concerns and seeking to disconnect a major Chinese firm from U.S. pharmaceutical interests have rattled the biotech industry. The firm is deeply involved in development and manufacturing of crucial therapies for cancer, cystic fibrosis, H.I.V. and other illnesses.
Chinese Company Under Congressional Scrutiny Makes Key U.S. Drugs
Latest:
US bill to restrict WuXi AppTec, Chinese biotechs revised to give more time to cut ties
America’s war machine needs Chinese magnets. So we’re going to make our own, and nobody knows how
China Forges Ahead Amid Challenges and Shifting Global Dynamics
This article presents a critical analysis of navigating headwinds and seizing opportunities in China’s economic crossroads, based on Yaroslav Lissovolik’s blog.
China Forges Ahead Amid Challenges and Shifting Global Dynamics
China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act
Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.
Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.
Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).
Read More »Trump and Biden, Republicans and Democrats all agree: affordable Chinese cars should be banned
Related:
Trump’s attacks on Chinese cars strike a chord — with both parties
“Ohio knows all too well how China illegally subsidizes its companies, putting our workers out of jobs and undermining entire industries from steel to solar manufacturing,” Brown said in a statement. “We can’t wait for China to run this same playbook in the auto industry — we need strong rules, including but not limited to tariffs, to stop a flood of Chinese electric vehicles that threaten Ohio auto jobs.”
…
He said the average price gap between a Chinese vehicle and its U.S.-made counterpart ranges from 44 percent to 179 percent. “That is a massive gap,” the executive said. “Tariffs alone aren’t going to take care of that.”
Reuters: Mexico yields to US pressure on incentives for Chinese car makers
He said that such incentives have declined during the government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in late 2018, although they have been offered to large investors such as Audi.
Hypocrisy, Thy Name is the United States:
Read More »Biden’s push for more Chinese steel tariffs is a political decision, not an economic one: Analyst
Biden wants to hike tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum
Chinese steel imports account for less than 1% of U.S. demand, officials told reporters. But Chinese subsidies and programs mean its steel prices are 40% lower than U.S. prices, and the Biden administration is worried that there could be a surge of exports.
Related:
Trump’s tariffs are equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in decades
New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force Statement on Section 301 Tariffs Announcement
You must be logged in to post a comment.