Posted on 05/13/2024 1:21:23 PM PDT by Red Badger
This photo shows BYD electric cars awaiting to be loaded onto a ship at the international container terminal of Taicang Port at Suzhou Port, eastern Jiangsu Province, China, Sept. 11, 2023. (AFP Photo)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Biden administration is reportedly set to impose major new tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the plan.
Tariffs on electric vehicles, in particular, could quadruple from the existing 25% to 100%. The people described the plan on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details ahead of a formal announcement.
The tariffs, expected to be announced Tuesday, come as officials across the Democratic administration have expressed frustration over China's manufacturing "overcapacity” of EVs and other products that threaten U.S. jobs and national security.
Industrialized nations, including the U.S. and its European allies, fear a wave of low-priced Chinese exports will overwhelm domestic manufacturing.
On the U.S. side, there is particular concern that China’s green energy products will undermine massive climate-friendly investments made through the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022.
The additional tariffs also carried some political heft during the November presidential election. Both Biden and his presumptive Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, have told voters that they'll be tough on China, the world's second-largest economy after the U.S. and an emerging geopolitical rival.
Biden has defined his policy as "competition with China, not conflict.” He has embraced an industrial strategy that has used government financial support to attract private investment in new factories and advanced technology while limiting the sale of computer chips and other equipment to China.
Trump has floated the idea of levying massive tariffs against China to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with that country. He has repeatedly claimed that Biden's support for EVs would ultimately cause American factory jobs to go to China.
Tuesday's announcement is expected to keep in place some tariffs that were imposed during Trump's administration, covering about $360 billion in Chinese goods. The new tax on imports would add products such as Chinese syringes and solar equipment.
There is the risk that tariffs could lead to a broader trade conflict between the two countries as they respond to each other's moves. China seeks to create a technological edge and move up the economic chain.
There are some indications that China is cooling its production of lithium-ion batteries used in EVs, cell phones and other consumer electronics at a time when it is facing increasing criticism from the West.
On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a draft rule to " strengthen the management of the lithium-ion battery industry and promote the sector’s high-quality growth.”
The draft, which was posted on the ministry’s website for public input, says companies should strive for better technological innovation, higher quality, and lower costs rather than expanding existing capacity.
Lithium battery plants built in restricted farmlands or industrial zones should be shut down, the draft says.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is conducting a review of the Trump-era tariffs, and Republican lawmakers, including House Ways and Means Committee Chair Adrian Smith, Jason Smith, and Trade Subcommittee, are urging a "swift conclusion” to the probe.
"Continued inaction on the four-year review poses serious risks for U.S. farmers, manufacturers, innovators, small businesses and workers," they wrote in a letter to Tai this week.
Meanwhile, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown tweeted on Friday that "Tariffs are not enough. We need to ban Chinese EVs from the U.S., Period.”
The Biden administration has also said it will investigate Chinese-made "smart cars” that can gather sensitive information about Americans driving them.
The Commerce Department in February issued a notice of a proposed rulemaking that launches an investigation into national security risks posed by "connected vehicles” from China and other countries considered hostile to the United States.
There currently are very few EVs from China in the U.S., but officials worry that low-priced models could soon start flooding the U.S. market, even with a 25% tariff.
A car model launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD sells for around $12,000 in China. The car’s craftsmanship rivals U.S.-made EVs that cost three or four times as much – and is stoking fear in the U.S. industry.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) – an alliance of businesses and the U.S. Steelworkers union – released a report in February that says the introduction of inexpensive Chinese autos to the American market "could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector.”
The U.S. auto sector accounts for 3% of America’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the report.
U.S.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who traveled to Guangzhou and Beijing in early April, cited the manufacturing of electric vehicles and their batteries as well as solar energy equipment – sectors that the U.S. administration is trying to promote domestically – as areas where Chinese government subsidies have driven rapid expansion of production.
"China is now simply too large for the rest of the world to absorb this enormous capacity. Actions taken by the PRC today can shift world prices,” she said during a speech in Beijing in April, using the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
"When the global market is flooded with artificially cheap Chinese products, the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question.”
The plan for new tariffs was reported earlier by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal.
They’re only saying that because Trump said it first.
When it doesn’t happen, they will claim that their hands are tied because of WTO rules.................
“When it doesn’t happen, they will claim that their hands are tied because of WTO rules.................”
^^^^This.
The environmentalists are already screaming about this. They want cheap electric cars and do not care if they come from China.
Some even want US auto manufacturing closed because it is “dirty”.
Or they can impose it for the election and then repeal it due to WTO threats.
"The Biden administration is reportedly set to impose major new tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the plan."
Off Topic, I would love to see how these get loaded on a ship. It appears that the whole block of cars is just slid onto the ship as opposed individually driving cars on.
There are billions and billions of tiny coaster wheels under each platform.
B.Y.D. = Buy Your Death
People used to make fun of those little death boxes they called Toyota in the 1980s and now the Toyota Camry is the best selling car in the USA. Look at the image those are not econo boxes those are SUVs and full sized sedans that are solid as a rock. We had a BYD the last time I was in Shanghai it was a near bolt for bolt clone of a 5 series BMW, rock solid and horsepower for days. There was L2 charges everywhere, every valet parking would charge it and fast DC was also everywhere. Don’t underestimate China they are going to dominate the world car market just like the Japanese did last century. Their economics of scale means they can make a sedan for one half of a third the labor and materials cost. Volvo is already a Chinese car and they are $65,000+ cars. I like Tesla better but the BYD was impressive it is solidly build and has the Blade cells that can pass the one foot long steel nail through the pack test and not burn. With LFP cells now and sodium cells coming BYD is going to smash all legacy makers in the international market only tariffs will.keep them.from bankrupting the big three here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.