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Noah Barkin

@noahbarkin.bsky.social
9.4K followers 789 following 2.6K posts

Watching 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 from Berlin. Try my newsletter: noahbarkin.substack.com

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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 46m
Sefcovic in Beijing: "We have reached a shared understanding to moderate China’s export of hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles to the EU. This opens the prospect of cutting China’s exports by more than a half."
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 7h
Stupendous Idiot (SI)
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Feels like the Chinese equivalent of the Turnberry thumbs up 👍🏼
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Germans like being told that everything will be all right - even when it won’t.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"When something looks like a cat, meows like a cat and moves like a cat, then it is natural to conclude that we may be dealing with a cat" - Martin Jäger, head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, on blaming Russia for the armed drone at Leipzig airport
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The CDU/CSU blood-letting continues. Now 12 points behind the AfD and sinking to Greens & SPD levels
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Disgusting
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Peter Thiel, receiving the Axel Springer award in Berlin, describes journalism as a "left-wing hate factory"
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Bari Weiss, Alex Karp ... and Markus Söder celebrating Peter Thiel in Berlin tonight #axelspringeraward
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
29% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs edition.cnn.com/2026/09/22/p...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Regional CDU leaders met for two hours last night in Berlin without Chancellor Friedrich Merz - a sign that his attempt to nip an internal party revolt in the bud may not have worked. The results from Berlin and Meck-Pomm could not have been much worse for him.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A blue wave in Mecklenburg Vorpommern, with the AfD over 50% in several voting districts
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The disaster scenario for Merz today was that the CDU would 1) be ejected from the state assembly in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and 2) be ejected from the government in Berlin. The first now looks likely. The second could take some time to materialize.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Support for the CDU in Meck-Pomm is eroding as the results come in. Now at serious risk of being ejected from the state parliament - which would be a first in the postwar era and increase the risks for Merz
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Merz trying to nip any talk of his ouster in the bud. He says he wants to push ahead with his reform agenda. No sign that he might be considering stepping aside - despite more bad news for the CDU in state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Merz giving a press conference within minutes of the first regional election exit polls - a sign of how much pressure he is under
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Exit polls from the German state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin are not great news for ChancellorFriedrich Merz In Meck-Pomm - AfD on track to be top vote getter ahead of the SPD - CDU on just 5.5% - lowest ever regional result Berlin - Far-left Linke in front of the CDU
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Trump plans to greet Xi Jinping as he gets off his plane next week. He has only done this for one other leader in his second term. Three guesses who that was.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
How times have changed
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Von der Leyen on China in her State of the European Union: "Our trade deficit with China is now 1 billion euros a day. It has reached a tipping point. Some say the second China shock is looming. But it’s already here ... This is unsustainable."
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Two years after the EU imposed duties on battery electric vehicles from China, it is still struggling to respond to a surge in Chinese auto exports - across all the major segments
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Iceland may regret saying no to the EU…
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
"Giving up is not an option for me," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says a day after a humiliating defeat to the far-right AfD in the state of Saxony-Anhalt
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
What can we expect in Saxony-Anhalt? 1. The AfD will try to convince 3 of the 15 CDU MPs to switch sides. If they succeed, the CDU (and Merz) would be in a full-blown crisis. 2. If they fail, the AfD will turn to the BSW to clear the path 3. Regardless, a CDU-led coalition seems very unlikely
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Far-right tech bro Musk applauds far-right AfD victory
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Someone told Trump there was a state election in Germany
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Exit polls from the election in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt are in and the news is not good: * The far-right AfD appears on track to exceed expectations with 44.5% of the vote. Unclear whether the AfD has enough support to govern. But big win. * Merz's CDU has badly underperformed at 18.5%
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
If the mission was self-immolation, then it is probably safe to say that it has been accomplished
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
What Canada walked away from was not a “trade deal” in the traditional sense, but a flimsy agreement cobbled together by dissonant factions within the US administration that could have been torpedoed by Trump at any time. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/w...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
How close would this be without tens of millions of dollars in AIPAC money propping up Stevens I wonder
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Infantino asking Trump for a favor www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Volkswagen getting crushed in China: Q2 deliveries down 36.6% and operating profit from Chinese JVs could be close to zero in H2 2026 uploads.vw-mms.de/system/produ...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It is also my experience that Americans (from across the political spectrum) do not appreciate the depth and durability of the rupture that Trump’s trade war, threats to seize the territory of partners, and senseless war in Iran have caused. There is no going back. www.ft.com/content/23a2...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
France & Germany set out last month to put together a joint paper on trade policy towards China. They were unable to do so because of intransigence from the German Economy Ministry, I was told. Instead we got this👇🏼 cvd.bundesregierung.de/resource/blo...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
This sums it up nicely. Are Americans paying attention? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/u...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Merz: “We are at a fundamental strategic crossroads with China”
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Besides supporting the Iraq war, the Iran war, the US seizure of Greenland and a cynical blockade of Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Graham’s legacy (and moral compass) is summed up here www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/u...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
BMW sales in China plunged 30% in the second quarter. The US and Europe, by contrast, showed gains www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The unifying trait among Trump sycophants (besides a lust for money and power) is a deep resentment of elites that never fully accepted them. www.ft.com/content/8f24...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I disagree that the non-market economy issue is irrelevant. it’s also hard to make the argument that European market penetration is not changing much.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Overquackacity
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
This time, a thumbs up from Sabine Weyand
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
The USA at 250: A woman sits on a metro train in DC surrounded by members of the Patriot Front, an ultranationalist group that wants to create a white ethno-state in the US. www.ft.com/content/e197...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Some comments for the @nzz.ch on Europe's de-risking challenge with China www.nzz.ch/internationa...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The world hates the US www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Days after EU leaders came together in Brussels to discuss a major shift in China policy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives a 25 minute speech at the biggest industry conference of the year and doesn't mention China once
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
The Republicans in the House Foreign Affairs Committee don’t seem to know how to spell Colombia
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Belgium PM De Wever showing Spanish PM Sanchez what he thinks of his China policy
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Important story: the German government funnels tens of millions of euros per year to the CISPA research center in Saarland which works closely with Chinese researchers from PLA-linked institutions on sensitive cybersecurity issues. Merz himself seems to approve👇🏼 www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deut...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Merz says Europe cannot accept when fair competition is distorted by high subsidies across entire sectors which flood other markets. He points to imbalance between Chinese demand and production. And on top of that an undervalued currency.
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