Over the past three decades, China has built itself into a manufacturing powerhouse. The plan was simple: use exports as a way to avoid becoming too dependent on the west. But with US President Donald Trump imposing 145 per cent tariffs on the country, this strategy now hangs in the balance. The FT’s Beijing bureau chief Joe Leahy explains how Beijing built its export machine and whether its plan to sell the world cheap goods could go wrong. Clip from European Commission.

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For further reading:

Will China’s manufacturing juggernaut run out of road?

How China’s record trade surplus helped spark Trump’s tariff war

China says ‘sky won’t fall’ as exports surge ahead of Donald Trump’s tariffs

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Follow Joe Leahy on X (@leahyjoseph). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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