[ahartmetz]

Abusive trading partner in the strict sense of goods trading, not sure. But China requires or used to require (some / interesting / all?) foreign countries operating in the country to create joint ventures with Chinese companies. Probably done to transfer know-how, possibly profits, and to keep control. Volkswagen had the foresight to enter China early (as it did decades earlier in Brazil), and it had to do that.

[hunglee2]

protectionism of this sort is basically how all the East Asian tigers developed from being as impoverished as Africa in 1950's to where they all are now. It's a problem now because the unbroken period of 400 years + pf Western hegemony might finally be under challenge by a country who is big enough not routinely bend the knee

[ahartmetz]

*foreign companies