Top international trade stories: G7 looks to diversify supply chains away from China; Carmakers urge Britain and EU to rethink post-Brexit trading arrangements; Ukraine Black Sea grain deal extended for two months.
1. G7 looks to 'de-risk' China links by diversifying supply chains
G7 countries will look to diversify their supply chains away from China as part of a united approach that aims to reduce their dependence on one country, US President Joe Biden said following this month's G7 meeting in Japan.
The G7 members say they want to "de-risk" their relationship with China, not decouple from it. "Economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying," says the G7 post-meeting statement. "We will take steps, individually and collectively, to invest in our own economic vibrancy. We will reduce excessive dependencies in our critical supply chains."
The G7 says its "policy approaches are not designed to harm China, nor do we seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development". However, China does not feel the same way, with the state-backed Global Times newspaper describing the G7 meeting as an "anti-China workshop".
Beijing has responded by banning US firm Micron Technology from selling memory chips to key Chinese industries, ramping up a trade spat in which the US – along with the Netherlands and Japan – has restricted exports of semiconductor chips and chipmaking tools to China.
