Can high tariffs save American industries?

According to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal on May 10th local time, the Biden administration is preparing to raise tariffs on clean energy products from China in the coming days.

In addition to The Wall Street Journal, mainstream media such as Bloomberg News and CNN have also revealed that the Biden administration will announce additional tariffs on China as soon as next week, involving key areas such as electric vehicles, batteries, and photovoltaics. The tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles will even rise to 100%.

In addition, the United States will also impose additional taxes on other Chinese goods, including semiconductors and medical equipment, and the White House refuses to comment on the report. It is reported that the US is currently reviewing the tariffs imposed on Chinese imported goods during the Trump era, with Chinese new energy products represented by electric vehicles receiving particular attention.

The United States' retrograde approach fully demonstrates that the Biden administration has finally shed the hypocritical mask of "globalization" and begun to comprehensively "attack" China. However, Biden's round of tax hikes went against the consensus reached between China and the United States through a series of contacts, without any prior warning. Without conducting a comprehensive investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, medical devices, and other products, he unjustly imposed tariffs on China under the pretext of so-called national security.

The current international public opinion generally believes that, given that the number of passenger cars exported from China to the United States is almost zero, even if the new tariffs are really implemented, it is unlikely to have an immediate impact on Chinese electric vehicle companies.

It is reported that the United States will soon announce a new tariff policy. As the media has said, if the United States really does so, it will harm the interests of the world, not only infringing on the free trade rights of other countries, but also taking into account the contribution of China's new energy industry to the global green transformation, especially in the "global southern" countries. The United States is also stripping the people of the "global southern" of their green development rights.

The United States has always boasted of establishing itself through free trade. However, increasing tariffs by 100% on goods from other countries, for whatever reason, is a serious violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization and the mainstream spirit of free global trade. If this behavior is appealed to the World Trade Organization for arbitration, the United States will lose the lawsuit 100% and will also be condemned by the international community.

Within the United States, there is also a serious disagreement on whether to adjust tariffs. It is reported that Tang Weishi, CEO of Maserati's parent company, Stellantis Group, pointed out that their company does not require any form of trade protection, nor does they believe that increasing tariffs can protect their company. The Wall Street Journal also pointed out that attempting to ban the most cost-effective electric vehicles from entering the US market will put pressure on the US government's other goal, which is to reduce carbon emissions. Analysts, industry unions, and others in the United States have warned that the "game of power" instigated by Washington will not only harm the US economy, but may also provoke a backlash from China.

Fundamentally speaking, the crux of the US steel industry is not actually the so-called "unfair competition" or the lack of sufficient protection, but rather its reliance on years of monopoly position while neglecting to rely on technological progress to improve production efficiency. What the US steel industry truly needs is an open attitude to promote reform, and trade protection will only enhance corporate inertia.

In fact, the high tariffs imposed by the United States on certain products are enough to prove that the United States has completely fallen behind in these industries. For a long time, the United States, which has been de industrialized, has actually completely lost the opportunity and can never turn back to achieve industrialization. For American politicians, sanctioning China has become politically correct, but this political correctness has little practical effect and can only reflect the hypocrisy and weakness of the United States.