26 Replies to “It’s Probably Nothing”

  1. uhuh.
    this is where the insular inner working of the chinese communist Beijing bosses bump into the realities of the rest of the world where creditworthiness is paramount.
    how long before their economic clout changes the rules for even that financial foundation?
    winging it as they go.

  2. Big deal.
    It’s a commercial dispute. They happen all the time and either get settled or end up in court. Is anyone here going to pretend that contract defaults are unique to China?

  3. I’m not a lawyer but I guess I’ll go ahead and play one on the internet. A 2008 contract for shipping Cosco containers full of Chinese manufactured consumer products would be gigantic. Combine the greatly-reduced cost of shipping and a global plunge in consumer spending and you’re treading into force majeure (google it) circumstances. The current global economic conditions do not resemble 2008 conditions much, and it is a large part due to government actions which falls within force majeure, in this case government policies in Europe and the USA that greatly increase poverty and devastate consumer spending capability Sure the Chinese have the money, but if honouring the contract(s) costs them billions more than necessary it may be that the contract terms and conditions have become too onerous, unbalanced, and unreasonable due to force majeure circumstances.
    So another way to look at the story is that it is a warning flag that the global economic situation is way worse than it looks on TV.

  4. any luck at all and paul martin’s ships got screwed the way he did the military/rcmp/public service pensioners…

  5. Of course,
    the cost of the transported goods is going to go up in spite of the communists policy to keep the currency low.
    The consumer will pay more.
    The price of manufactured goods in North America will look better to the consumer.
    You see, even communists must admit that there are laws of economics that work regardless of ideology.
    You have to have a profit, otherwise you have no business.
    We will see how is that going to work out.

  6. Recently, Trump commented on Greta’s show that the relative cost of chinese goods would be more or less even with north american, if not for the manipulations by the communists.
    Trump said that he buys a lot of stuff from China, simply because the manufacturing is not available in the US. He does not like it, though has no choice.

  7. This is why one of the three pillars of legitimate government in a free nation is “enforcing contracts”.
    Which is RACIST!!! according to Trollex. Typical.

  8. As someone put it above, it’s a commercial dispute, and a reputational thing.
    Renegotiating contracts is fine. Tough business practices and all that.
    BUT, be assured that NEXT time you sign a contract the counter-party will have your measure. Not honoring your word will have consequences. That can range from reputable counter-parties ignoring you, to simply always being “last on the list” when anything needs to get done.
    That “last on the list” thing can be a killer, it’s always quasi-invisible, but it blows your margins, the friction of doing business increases your parts are late, your fuel ups slower, the ports make you wait a couple of extra hours/days ( at 50 to 200,000$ a DAY), the crewing agencies send you not as competent but still good crews (so more mistakes, maintenance issues), contracts get a “little extra” put into them, or penalty clauses because no one believes you…
    You have to carefully weigh the cost savings today vs. your loss of reputation and increase in future friction.

  9. That’s because they don’t really have words in Chinese, just morphemes.
    You can have:
    Red pen
    Black pen
    Blue pen
    but if you don’t specify the color, it becomes:
    round pen

  10. Fred2, Nicely stated. Spoken like a thoughtful businessman.
    Adam Smith said that business is predicated on the “mutual trust of strangers”. It is as true today as when he said it in 1776.

  11. Maybe when some folks don’t have money they just can’t run out and print their own?
    i kno i can be a rather damp cloth on a hot topic
    but that’s why u hate me
    or is it my lack of sustainable IQ that makes some so offy
    your forgiven

  12. Blanks. Naw, it’s your lousy grammar and punctuation. We’re sort of sticky about that here.

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