[pcthrowaway]

I think this is only the case if there aren't replacements available from other countries.

I feel like China is going to be the biggest winner of this tariff war.

Just as an example (from Canada), we had long had a 50% tariff on Chinese EVs which helped U.S. EV manufacturers stay competitive. Now I think we're going to relax that (which IIUC was only implemented to appease our relationship with the U.S. in the first place) and cheaper Chinese EVs should start appearing on the market.

Good for Canadians, good for China. Not as good for the U.S.

[drivebyhooting]

What’s good for China is not good for Canada in the long run. There are many reasons you can think of.

A small and often overlooked one is that a Chinese hegemony would decrease the língua franca status of English.

[pcthrowaway]

Sure, but I don't see much of a difference from importing from China vs. the U.S. in terms of real impact.

I don't really care so much for the "lingua franca status of English" (even though it's the only language I speak fluently). While yes, this is one of Canada's main languages (not that we don't have a lot of Cantonese/Mandarin speakers too), China itself would be a good example that one can succeed without speaking the language which has the "lingua franca status"

Perhaps it's worth noting that the number of fluent Mandarin/Cantonese speakers in Canada is probably not much lower (as a percentage - ~4% in 2016 and I can imagine it's only increased since then) than the number of fluent English speakers in China (5%)

edit: 4% is actually the number of Canadians who spoke Mandarin or Cantonese as a first language in 2016 (which again, is likely higher now). The number of fluent combined Chinese language speakers is almost certainly higher then, even if just a little bit.

[drivebyhooting]

Millions of Chinese learn English in school from a very early age to have access to the global labor market.

You have a huge unrecognized privilege in being a native English speaker.

[pcthrowaway]

Not sure why you're making this personal. I do of course realize the privilege in speaking English as a first language, being born in a developed nation, as a white cis-man, and so on.

To cling to the idea that English need continue to be the most important global economic language though, is a type of linguistic and economic supremacy I don't care to partake in.

[drivebyhooting]

If you were playing a strategy game you would definitely value your country’s language remaining the língua franca.

The same logic applies in the real world. It’s not personal. It’s the most impersonal thing possible.

[dryrun]

But keeping with the US is not better both in the short and the long term, for lack of possible trust after what just happened over the course of three months.

[dkjaudyeqooe]

It's also good for Canada because the local industry will be forced to compete with China with the consumer benefiting.

[nonethewiser]

China is quite reliant on food and energy imports (two critical preconditions for everything) and their consumption rates arent great which is not good for an export based economy.

They could be a beneficiary if global trade doesnt go nuclear. And it probably wont. If it does they are in big trouble.