The following audio episode  provides an in depth discussion of this weeks news from "The Edge".

 

  🟡 The Weekly Edge – 12th June 2025
Crackdowns, Cracks & Crude Shocks
— Brought to you by the team at Gilt Investments

This week on The Weekly Edge, the gloves didn’t just come off—they were thrown across the room. From petrochemical tariffs to kill switch fears, from Chinese deflation to Musk vs. Trump drama, the message is clear:

🌍 The global economy isn’t just strained—it’s being rewired.

📦 Petrochemicals – The Frontline of Trade Fragmentation

Forget chips—this week, the battlefront is propane and ethane.

China just slapped a 125% tariff on U.S. propane, effectively nuking a trade flow of over 565,000 barrels/day. In response, the U.S. banned ethane exports to China, citing national security.

This isn’t posturing. It’s real pain, hitting U.S. midstream firms and Chinese manufacturers alike. Plants are idling. Contracts are collapsing. And the feedback loops are getting ugly.

What used to be a stable trade relationship is now a strategic wedge—with both sides bleeding.

⚡ Grid Infrastructure – When Hardware Becomes a Threat

New reports suggest Chinese-made solar inverters embedded in U.S. infrastructure may contain rogue modules capable of bypassing firewalls and triggering remote grid access.

Sound alarmist? Maybe. But in a world where geopolitical trust is fraying, infrastructure sovereignty is no longer a technical concern—it’s a strategic imperative.

Markets are waking up. This is national security risk disguised as utility capex. And it could accelerate a wave of domestic reshoring and regulation across critical infrastructure.

📉 China – Deflation, Overcapacity & the EV Price War

China’s Producer Price Index plunged 3.3% YoY—the sharpest drop in nearly two years. Under the hood? A brutal EV sector shakeout.

BYD is slashing prices. Weaker firms are folding. Even with state support, overcapacity and weak consumer demand are dragging the sector toward the edge.

This isn’t just China’s problem. As deflation exports via cheap autos and electronics, it complicates Western inflation dynamics—and signals structural demand weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.

💳 Musk vs. Trump – Market Risk Gets Personal

What started as social media sparring has morphed into market risk.

Tesla lost $150 billion in market cap last week, just as Musk’s AI venture xAI was seeking major funding. Political risk and reputational volatility are bleeding into capital markets—and investors are noticing.

This isn’t tabloid noise. It’s a red flag for institutional capital navigating a fractured tech-politics landscape.

🧭 Final Take – From Integration to Fragmentation

Here’s what we’re watching:

• Petrochemical trade has gone hostile—supply chains are snapping, not bending.
• Energy infrastructure is now a battleground—sovereignty and trust are pricing into utility markets.
• China’s deflation pulse is intensifying—and dragging EVs down with it.
• Political volatility is now market volatility, as Musk and Trump collide.

This is not a soft patch. It’s a hard pivot. From globalization to regionalization. From predictability to persistent shocks.

🎯 In this world, edge isn’t about forecasting—it’s about resilience.

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Stay informed. Stay adaptive.
We’ll see you next week on The Weekly Edge.

Disclaimer

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