China Explores Limiting Its Own Exports

Wall Street Journal: “Like Japan decades ago, China is considering trying to blunt greater U.S. tariffs and other trade barriers by offering to curb the quantity of certain goods exported to the U.S..”

“Tokyo’s adoption of so-called voluntary export restraints, or VERs, to limit its auto shipments to the U.S. in the 1980s helped prevent Washington from imposing higher import duties.”

“A similar move from Beijing, especially in sectors of key concern to Washington, like electric vehicles and batteries, would mitigate criticism from the U.S. and others over China’s ‘economic imbalances’: heavily subsidized companies making stuff for slim profits but saturating global markets, to the detriment of other countries’ manufacturers.”