Geopolitical madness of US sanctions hits Bentley, Porsche and Audi vehicles at U.S. ports over a single part. 
VW Under Pressure to Ditch Its China Joint Venture
The Wall Street Journal reports Volkswagen Under Pressure to Ditch Its China Joint Venture
Pressure is mounting on Volkswagen to pull out of a joint venture in the Xinjiang region of China in the latest example of geopolitical tensions colliding with business priorities for Germany’s largest manufacturers.
VW said the U.S. had impounded thousands of its Bentley, Porsche and Audi vehicles at U.S. ports because the cars contained a part made by a Chinese supplier on a sanctions list for using forced labor in Xinjiang.
“One tiny part,” a VW spokesman said, adding that it was in the process of refitting the vehicles and delivering them to dealers. “We really try, but this shows how challenging it is to really know everything that is happening in complex supply chains.”
Last week, the German chemical giant BASF said it would accelerate plans to divest itself of two joint ventures in Xinjiang, citing the market environment, the carbon footprint for the products produced there and news reports that alleged its joint-venture partner was involved in human-rights violations.
This move doesn’t mean BASF is exiting China. On the contrary, it plans to invest up to 10 billion euros, equivalent to around $10.7 billion, in the country by 2030 while reducing its footprint in Germany because of rising energy bills. VW, which made 35% of its sales in China last year, has no plan to reduce its presence in the market.
“Paradoxically, China has been a winner of Trump’s trade war,” said Jürgen Matthes, head of international economic policy at the German Economic Institute, an independent think tank. “It has benefited in the form of additional investments while Germany has borne the costs.”
“I have been saying for months that companies importing cars into the United States need to know the origin of every component in the vehicle,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), head of the Senate Finance Committee.
Down to the Gnat’s Ass
The US not tells US corporations they can or cannot do, the US also demands the right to tell the entire rest of the world what it can or cannot do, down to the gnat’s ass, with zero tolerance.
German chemical giant BASF is in the same boat as VW. It will relocate from one region of China to another.
Amusingly, Germany turned to China because inane energy policy in Germany made it cost prohibitive to make things in Germany.
For discussion, please see Germany’s Industrial Superpower Days are Over, a Green Victory?
Trump and Biden, No Difference
In the US, here is no difference between Trump and Biden on sanctions or tariffs.
Both demand the right to tell the world what it can or cannot do. And costs are rising as a direct result.
A law expert friend of mine who has argued cases in the Supreme Court commented “Holy s**t. This is very strange. Generally, an importer can pay a penalty for a part that violates 337.”
337 is in reference to U.S. – Section 337 of Tariff Act 1930.
How China Gets Around US Sanctions on Semiconductors
Yesterday, I commented How China Gets Around US Sanctions on Semiconductors
The US is far ahead of China on technology, but China is gaining ground faster than anyone thought.
The US wanted to restrict China’s access to 7nm chips but now it appears China is making its own 5bn chips, and the smaller the better.
The Incentive to Break Sanctions
China lags the US in technology, but the direct result of sanctions is China now produces its own chips instead of buying them from the US.
On December 29, 2023 I noted How Russia Makes a Mockery of US Sanctions in One Picture
On September 19, 2023, I commented Lesson of the Day: Sanctions Don’t Work Because They Create New Markets
Sanction Irony
The irony in this madness is US sanctions made a winner out of Russia and China, punished US allies, and drove up costs on US corporations and US consumers.
And people think inflationary pressures have been eliminated. What a sorry hoot.


Nobody in their right state of mind buys German cars anymore
Germany to America: “Thank you sire, may I have another?”
Meanwhile, 75% of the parts in a North Korean missile sold to Russia for use in Ukraine were found to be from US corporations.
Did VW really earned money in the US in the last decades? I`m not shure.
Did any of German export champions earn any money in the US in excess of legal expenses? Bayer & Co. included.
I must think about that… Maybe there is one, or two…
”
“I have been saying for months that companies importing cars into the United States need to know the origin of every component in the vehicle,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), head of the Senate Finance Committee.
”
If one is too incompetent to competitively build anything; whether that’d be cars, car parts or anything else; I suppose paying thousands of deadweights on, instead, wasting resources trying to “know the origin of every component in the vehicle”; is one way for the losers to bury their brain challenged ostrich heads in the sand while pretending they are still some form of useful lifeform.
Of course; in the next sentence; the idiots will then complain they can’t compete with those five year planning Chinese manufacturers. Since communist five year planning is such a recipe for maximizing productivity, efficiency and competitiveness and all….
The VW will have to pay the proper lobbyist in DC to grease the skid to get these cars released in the future or Bring them across the Southern border.
US buys Russian uranium, Chinese rare earths, no questions there on morality or working conditions. But any excuse to disadvantage European industrial competition !
Thanks for voluntarily stopping the import of cheap Russian gas and instead importing expensive LNG from the US. Good doggie! Now roll over and play dead.
Lesson of the Day: Sanctions Don’t Work Because They Create New Markets: in evidence, Iran’s thriving military-industrial complex, now manufacturing and exporting state of the art drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and AA missiles.
Mike, I think you need to step back and get a clearer picture of what’s going on. The very first article you cited in this post contains factual errors and opinioned statements from Jürgen Matthes, head of international economic policy at the German Economic Institute. Have you bothered to verify his statement that China is “winning” Trump’s trade war? Because this claim is demonstrably untrue. Here’s the facts. Foreign Direct Investment into China has plummeted from $350bn USD in 2020 to $33bn in 2023. That represents a 91% decline. The YoY change for 2023 alone was negative 82%. These are staggering numbers. China FDI is now back to where it was during the 1990s and it’s headed lower. The USA is winning this war and China is melting down into economic paralysis, if not outright collapse.
Longview Economics has the deets:
https://twitter.com/Lvieweconomics/status/1759561740939850151
In light of these facts I would suggest that you take a more skeptical view of the “reporting” from the WSJ and other legacy media outlets. I doubt you are a cheerleader for the global elite, the WEF, and the Davos crowd. Those are the interests that the WSJ serves.
“Foreign Direct Investment into China has plummeted from $350bn USD in 2020 to $33bn in 2023. That represents a 91% decline.”
A 91% decline in handing over real value in exchange for printed up paper attached to idiots who “made money off my home and portfolio and connections to an idiot tribe in D.C.”; is what’s called a massive net gain.
Back in the day, The West had something of value to offer China. Quite a lot, actually. Now, they have at least 91% less to offer. And shrinking.
If there is one category of abject nothings which has done, and is doing, more than any other to flat out destroy value with everyone and everything they touch; it has been/is Fed-theft-and-nothing-but beneficiary Western “investors.” Noone needs them, noone even half competent wants them. The less access they have to anything at all; whether in China or the US; the better off every single competent Chinese and American is and will be.
Germans think they can cheat. Think again.
it is pretty obvious that the US of A is hellbent on destroying European industries, Germany’s in particular… Say it ain t so !
…..we should be grateful though , after all the US saved us from Hitler an now you are even safeguarding us from a Russian invasion and Putin s… ‘weapons of mass destruction’….oh wait.. , that was someone else you saved the world from again…. Oh those emotions of mine , at this very moment I fall on my knees praying with gratitude , my head towards Washington while farting direction Moscow ….FOR EVER GRATEFUL and faithfully yours….
You’ve either seen the light and turned to our savior, or had too many of those Belgian beers which in addition to being expensive taste awful.
I am no chauvinist BUT belgian beers are definitely the best in the world, International connoisseurs will confirm this. Expensive ? I buy the very best at 1 or 2 Euro 33 cl bottle in the supermarket, in a bar you pay X 3 or more depending on the poshness of the place ….
“I am no chauvinist BUT belgian beers are definitely the best in the world”
Often too alcoholic for my preference 🙂
No doubt extremely well made, but these days, there are great beers brewed almost everywhere.
The Average beer in Belgium may well be better than the Average beer anywhere else, since seemingly all Belgians have high standards and won’t put up with bottled plonk just for convenience or to save a buck. But the very best beer from almost anywhere, is so good by now that it’s just down to individual taste.
More controversially: Even wine has been “democratized” in a similar fashion. Perhaps not to quite the same extent; since growing conditions and terroir still plays a slightly bigger role in winemaking. But even there; there has been a massive compression of the quality spread. Macron may still drink better stuff than the average wino; but the difference is very far from what it was even 30 years ago.
I am not a chauvinist too, but one thing is shure: German beer is the best, because we have the Reinheitsgebot since april 23.1516.
Reinheitsgebot ? Die Belgische Biere sind also unrein ? Lol !
Excuse my bad taste. I only tried Belgian beer once – and never again. It was in a local brew outlet serving Belgian beer of all flavours but plain hops. It was served in small goblet style glasses, and overpriced like nectar for gods.
Beer always tastes awful to me. I’m told it is genetics.
“it is pretty obvious that the US of A is hellbent on destroying European industries”
Misery loves company.
And kids who can’t, often do get jealous of kids who still can.
KEEP ON PRINTING , you ARE still the reserve currency of the world , for the time being anyway, 200 trillion in debt and future liabilities , and ruthlesssly ticking ain t peanuts !
The corrupt traitors in DC are very pro-Red China. This is schizophrenic.
Volkswagen should consider itself lucky that those US ports didn’t mysteriously explode and send all the cars to the bottom. No one would have been able to figure out who did it.
Meanwhile, the US is importing Uranium from Russia. Clearly these sanctions make no sense.
In this case, Russia can’t make lots of WMD ( Even though Russia has WMD which can destroy the world ten times )
There are reasons for everything which breaks laws, sanctions, etc.
Reason for genocide in Gaza is self defence.
Let me know if you have problems , I can tell you the reasons.
There is no “genocide” in Gaza.
And “War is Peace”
Companies must realize that it is risky to do business in the US. VW joint venture partner would welcome if it could get its hands on the rest of the venture for pennies. They don’t need VW anymore like they did in the past.
So the solution is to not to apply sanctions in the first place, as you claim they aren’t effective and don’t work anyway and just let everyone do whatever they want as in laissez faire? It would seem that in that world, the only way to stop someone from doing something would be to intervene militarily then. And I know you don’t like that solution either.
Do you see the illogic of your statement here?
No, unless you are a tool of the mic. propaganda machine.
Right, sanctions on the US of A are long overdue then !
“The US not tells US corporations they can or cannot do, the US also demands the right to tell the entire rest of the world what it can or cannot do, down to the gnat’s ass, with zero tolerance.”
That sounds like dictatorship, not democracy.
The Germans are still weak from the sins of WW2. They just take whatever crappy hand the US gives them. Stop cheap energy from Russia – ok. Blow up Nordstream and the Germans bend over and take it again. Invaded by migrants that rape your women, piss on your traditions and collect welfare and still they do nothing. They are pathetic.
They are waking up, but the indoctrination by the state media is very strong.
Also true. But the waking-up is probably too late.
Rape their women and piss on their traditions? Says someone who hasn’t been to Germany. It’s the migrants who actually face a lot of hostility from Germans. Doesn’t mean open borders is a good plan, but no need to resort to hyperbole.
Not true.
All true.
This is nonsense . . . This has nothing to do with a Part from China . . . and everything to do with keeping Pressure on Germany so that they will continue to support Ukraine and NATO because the German Government is on its way out . . . and not soon enough . . . they have sold out their people and their country . . . this will not end well . . .
They have been selling out for decades. The problem is, that they just got caught. The sunlight of the NG crisis, and handling of their energy needs has driven this administration into the ground.
They played them to be dumb, and they have been for a few decades, but not anymore. The illegal immigration nightmare of non-assimilation, the loss of energy requirements (from an adversary), and no back up plan. The shutting down, of the only energy source the Country had, in Nuclear Energy.
People notice when there paychecks shrink overnight, they are cold and hungry, and things are looking bleak…
New parties are establishing. Old parties are collapsing. Public-opinion polls show, that people are feeling, that they can
t use their right of free speech any more. Many do no longer believe the messages of the state media, but others still do. The government tries to abolish freedom and democracy in these days. Elections have been manipulated. Germany has reached a crossroad. But still there seems to be a majority who is behind the old parties and thats because of the nazi-past of the country. People are traumatized by that. And thats the reason why the country abrogates itself. Its horrible.Ah yes, you found inflation!
They can do what they want. They just can’t sell their blood-stained products made by tyrants here. The Germans know nothing..NOTHING! When has the world heard this before?
CBS 60 min : Audi 5000 sudden acceleration blocked VW for decades.
Someone is not playing by the rules they were given. They are making a deal with someone they are not supposed to, or they changed the way they deal with immigration, or they said they like Trump. Maybe all of the above? Germany is in a very bad situation right now, as a Country…
About Germany and energy policy. When I was young, I remember sitting in big lines for gas in the 70s. I thought the shortage of oil and inflation was the result of a war and its subsequent energy embargo.
Washington’s “development economics” is actually designed to prevent development
“Nixon shock”
You should listen to “The Rest is History 1974” podcast by Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook, and you’d realise the UK Government was far too daft to become involved in such an elaborate plot. It’s very entertaining.
I will check it out, thanks
Exellent overview to the economic history of the last decades.
USA is pushing Germany in Russia’s and China’s arms with sanctions or LNG exports ban.Dangerous game.
Mussolini was a foe of Hitler and had good relations with Lomdon, but Great Britain imposed sanctions on italians for human rights affairs in Africa (yes, the colonial Britain, what a joke) In a few years, italian submarines were sinking british vessels.
The outcome of being an obsequious and cowardly vassal. France obeyed on Mistral production. Ukraine is helping to extinct their young male population and their whole nation thereby in obeying Uncle Sam. The British are compliant puppy dogs who didn’t get rewarded with free trade status after Brexit. Scholz was treated like a nobody with nothing to say by some Senators a while back, on stage. Stand on your feet or die on your knees, EU. As the assistant secretary of state once said,”F**k the EU”.
Yes.
So sanctioning Russian energy exports to Germany has pushed BASF to move production to China? And China will then need to buy more energy from Russia to satisfy demand. Double facepalm stupid by the West.
You got it. But, “the West”, what is it, I have forgotten?
What tiny little part? Oh, the motor.
show me the part. I can’t find it.
Sounds like the G spot
It`s a control unit that regulates the communication of several devices.
My mustang transmission was made in China. I did not realize this when I bought it
Xinjiang is home to numerous factories that supply multinational companies, including big-name Western brands.
WILL the rest of the Western World finally grow some balls and tell America it can SHOVE IT. These sanctions drive up an ALREADY HUGE INFLATION factor!
WTF???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sanctions are stupid but sadly so, in general, is the voting public.