China's Coming Reductions in Import Barriers: A Short-Term or Long-Term Change?

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's imports fell unexpectedly in November while export growth slowed, adding to concerns the world's second-largest economy could be facing a sharper slowdown and adding pressure on policymakers to ramp up stimulus measures.

Shares of Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd dropped to a five-year low on Thursday after China, the world’s top coal importer, said it will levy tariffs of 3 percent to 6 percent on imports of coal as of Oct. 15. Teck shares were down more than 4.5 percent at C$18.43 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Teck is one of the world’s largest exporters of seaborne steel-making coal. The Vancouver-based company’s sales of commodities directly into China accounted for more than 26 percent of overall revenue in 2013, or nearly C$2.5 billion ($2.25 billion).

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China plans

U.S. trade policy, hobbled for years by partisan bickering, has been reinvigorated with a new level of ambition and scope. President Barack Obama, considered a trade skeptic when he first came into office in 2008, is now pursuing free trade zones spanning both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.  

As I've, frequently discussed on this blog, politicians and pundits who repeatedly demand that China dramatically appreciate its currency, or that the United States impose tariffs on Chinese imports until they do, are really advocating higher prices for the many American families and businesses that purchase such goods.

As Putin warned earlier in the week, they do not see the effectiveness of sanctions; but it seems he had something else in mind. By rolling back informal limits on Chinese investment, Putin has opened the door for significant capital inflows from his new best friend... and China has already agree to increase investment.