To Save His EV Dreams, Biden Starts A Green Trade War
President Biden is trying to create a brave new U.S. green economy, but his political problem is that China wants to supply most of it. [emphasis, links added]
Solution? Slap new and severe tariffs on Chinese goods that far surpass Donald Trump’s. Welcome to what could be the Sarajevo of the global green trade war.
China is “flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports,” the White House said Tuesday. Ergo, the U.S. is increasing tariffs on Chinese goods, including electric vehicles (100%), steel and aluminum (25%), lithium-ion batteries (25%), critical minerals (25%), solar cells (50%), semiconductors (50%), port cranes (25%) and medical syringes and needles (50%).
The Administration is using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the same law Mr. Trump invoked to impose tariffs to cajole Beijing to change its mercantilist behavior.
That didn’t work, as Xi Jinping doubled down on his “Made in China 2025” plan to dominate high-tech manufacturing including EVs—though Americans have paid more for imports.
In other words, industries are “strategic” because the administration is subsidizing them for political reasons.
China does present a special challenge for U.S. trade policy because it’s an adversary that often doesn’t play by global rules. A targeted trade policy that punishes IP and cyber theft and protects national security is justified.
Limits on Huawei’s telecom products are an example. Covid and the Ukraine war underlined the need to diversify supply chains, and U.S. CEOs are doing so.
But Mr. Biden’s tariffs are mainly about domestic U.S. politics and his green dreams. Most goods on Mr. Biden’s tariff list aren’t needed for defense and don’t pose a security risk. His tariffs are intended to mitigate the economic and political damage of his climate policies.
China dominates global production of solar panels and critical minerals used in renewables. While Chinese gas-powered cars aren’t competitive, Mr. Xi has used subsidies and mandates to turn his country into the world’s leading EV producer.
Chinese EV supply is outstripping domestic demand, fueling a local price war. This has stirred worries in the U.S. and Europe that low-priced Chinese EVs could flood foreign markets and drive domestic companies out of business.
American demand for EVs is softening, which has caused domestic manufacturers to scale back production.
Mr. Biden is nervous, as he should be, that his de facto EV mandate threatens the U.S. car industry. Automakers have cut thousands of jobs to finance the government-forced EV transition.
Bloomberg News last week reported that Ford lost more than $100,000 per EV in the first quarter.
Mr. Biden has vowed that his green subsidies and mandates will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. But workers aren’t seeing them, and Mr. Trump is using the issue to good political effect in Michigan.
Mr. Biden’s tariffs are certain to disrupt business supply chains and raise costs for U.S. consumers and businesses. They are unlikely to change Chinese policies, and they’ll invite retaliation against U.S. goods.
Recall how Beijing last year imposed export controls on graphite—a critical input in EV batteries—in ostensible retaliation for the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax-credit terms that exclude China.
See more here Climate Dispatch
Please Donate Below To Support Our Ongoing Work To Defend The Scientific Method
PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company 
incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
Trackback from your site.