China’s 4.4% year over year drop in exports in December was only partly due to the trade war with the U.S. – exports to Japan and Taiwan have also fallen. Indeed, at the product level a large part of the blame can be laid at the feet of the telecoms sector. Exports of handsets and components fell 31.1% in December compared to a year earlier. Excluding the telecoms sector effect China’s exports only fell by 1.3% year over year in December. Other electronics sectors also saw significant declines including LCD panels which slumped 19.1%. The drop in telecoms exports is likely down ...