Summary
Russia has imposed a 55.65% tariff on Chinese furniture sliding rail parts, previously exempt from duties, angering both Russian manufacturers and Chinese commentators.
Industry leaders warn the tariff could bankrupt importers, raise domestic furniture prices by 15%, and harm Russia’s furniture industry, which relies heavily on Chinese imports.
Critics note similar European imports face lower duties.
The move has sparked feelings of betrayal in China, despite booming bilateral trade reaching $240 billion in 2023.
The tariff comes amid U.S. sanctions and China’s critical role in supporting Russia’s economy during the Ukraine war.
Ok, unpopular take here:
Based Russia, we should all be doing this - and extend it to all the junk we import from China that we have to replace every year instead of only buying once, flooding them with money and sending local production out of business.
Just because Russia is a terrorist state that doesn’t deserve their sovereignty and should receive the 1945 axis treatment, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do one right thing once in a blue moon. This is it.
In that sense it’s a good thing, but strategically this seems like a very strange decision for Russia. They don’t have many allies left in the world, what they gain for their local businesses might not be worth angering their most powerful ally.
It means exactly that. Russia should be at least disarmed if not partitioned into multiple states it took over time.
Did you misread my sentence?
Actually, I did.
Protectionism only really makes sense if you’re a country without native industrial capacities and trying to industrialise. Even that is debatable.
Russia used to be a major world power with highly developed heavy industry and okay-ish light industry. A lot of that has been poorly maintained since the fall of the USSR but the factories are still there. Protectionism makes little sense here.
those factories wre almost all in ukraine.