Tag: Supply Chains

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Even though the United States views these weapons sales as integral to deterring China from attacking Taiwan, some of the deals were publicly announced as far back as 2017.

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The reasons – government delays, supply chain issues and production requirements – are numerous, and the problem won’t be easy to fix, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Defense News.

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The U.S. government has approved the sale of 10 weapons systems Taiwan has yet to receive – some of which are not slated for delivery until the end of the decade.

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The United States has flooded billions of dollars in weapons into Ukraine, including items that are part of Taiwan’s backlog, such as Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and High Mobile Artillery Rocket Systems.

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For example, several Middle Eastern and eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan in Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production queue. In 2019, the State Department approved an $8 billion Taiwan sale for 66 F-16s, but Taipei does not expect to receive the aircraft until 2026.

“Saudi Arabia is still ahead of Taiwan on the priority list in some cases,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Defense News ahead of a July meeting with Taiwan’s Washington envoy. “We need to take a look at that.”

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Europe Looks To Reduce Dependence On China’s Critical Minerals

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Europe Looks To Reduce Dependence On China’s Critical Minerals

China is the dominant player on the markets for the materials used in solar panels, batteries, and magnets. European countries have recently ramped up efforts to establish local supply chains and diversify imports away from one dominant supplier, especially if this supplier is Russian ally China.

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According to the European Commission, China provides 98% of the EU’s supply of rare earth elements (REE).

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China could reduce exports of critical materials, as authorities said in the latest five-year plan that the country would cut overseas shipments to meet the rise in demand domestically, Deutsche Welle noted earlier this year.

Germany’s economy, Europe’s biggest, became more dependent on China during the first half of 2022, according to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW) seen by Reuters.

US congressional delegation arrives in Taiwan

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

US congressional delegation arrives in Taiwan

As Markey’s delegation arrived in Taipei, Chinese fighter jets, bombers and airborne early warning aircraft departed for Thailand for joint exercises with the Royal Thai Air Force.

Meanwhile, the US is holding joint exercises in Indonesia with the Australian, Japanese, and Singaporean forces, while the Pentagon announced last week that the US Navy will conduct “air and maritime transits” through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks, while the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group will remain stationed in the region.

Related:

As US lawmakers make more provocative visits, China’s determination to solve Taiwan question sooner rather than later also rises

Several US lawmakers made a visit to the island of Taiwan via US military aircraft on Sunday. This is new provocation. On the same day, it’s revealed by the Taiwan side that China’s PLA sent 22 military aircraft and six warships for combat readiness security patrols in the Taiwan Straits and some of them crossed the so-called median line, which the mainland doesn’t recognize.

White House Rethinks China Tariffs Amid Taiwan Turmoil

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

White House Rethinks China Tariffs Amid Taiwan Turmoil

By Zerohedge.com

The Trump tariffs are the subject of a lawsuit filed by scores of U.S. companies who’ve asserted the levies are overly broad and were improperly implemented. If the Biden administration can’t defend the Trump tariff regime, it could be compelled to evaluate tens of thousands of public comments about it, or reimburse the plaintiffs for tariffs they’ve paid so far.

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Biden’s interest in pandering to labor unions also figures in his slow-walking his tariff-relief decision. Milton Friedman had something to say about that

“The benefits of a tariff are visible. Union workers can see they are ‘protected.’ The harm which a tariff does is invisible. It’s spread widely.”

What labor unions?!

Union Representation Petitions Continue to Increase in FY 2022 Under Biden Administration

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021 the percentage of U.S workers, including public- and private-sector workers, who were members of unions was 10.3 percent—a half point decline from the 10.8 percent unionization rate in 2020. Within the private sector, the unionization rate declined by 0.2 percent in 2021 to 6.1 percent. The degree to which union activity in 2022 with an aggressively labor-friendly NLRB general counsel and a majority Biden appointed Labor Board moves the needle for union membership is yet to be determined.

Big Chip in US-China Crisis

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

For the U.S., it is unthinkable that semiconductor behemoth TSMC could one day be in territory controlled by Beijing, writes Maria Ryan.

One aspect of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan that has been largely overlooked is her meeting with Mark Lui, chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC). Pelosi’s trip coincided with U.S. efforts to convince TSMC – the world’s largest chip manufacturer, on which the U.S. is heavily dependent – to establish a manufacturing base in the US and to stop making advanced chips for Chinese companies.

Big Chip in US-China Crisis

The climate bill could short-circuit EV tax credits, making qualifying for them nearly impossible

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The U.S. Senate passed a far-reaching climate, energy and health care bill on Aug. 7, 2022, that invests an unprecedented US$370 billion in energy and climate programs over the next 10 years – including incentives to expand renewable energy and electric vehicles.

The climate bill could short-circuitEV tax credits, making qualifying for them nearly impossible