In March this year, Biden and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo suddenly attacked China's connected cars, claiming that these cars had problems such as "data security" and threatened the "national security" of the United States. Recently, the U.S. media broke the news that the Biden administration is planning to impose tariffs on China's electric vehicles and other industries by 1 to 3 times. In this regard, at its regular press conference on May 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China clearly demanded that the US side cancel all the tariffs imposed on China and not add mistakes to mistakes.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian
However, the US side did not heed China's warning at all. According to the Observer, on May 13, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen once again responded to the topic of imposing tariffs on China. She claimed that the United States has no intention of "decoupling" from China, that the adjusted tariffs on China will be more "strategic", and that she does not want to see a major response from China.
In addition, she also flaunted the Biden administration's subsidy policy, which is helping U.S. new energy companies regain competitiveness, while accusing China's subsidy practices of "not respecting the rules of the game." On the same day, Sullivan also confirmed that details of the new tariffs on Chinese products would be announced soon.
Yellen
From smearing and slandering to exaggerating threats, and finally in the name of "national security" and "protecting industry", they abuse the weapon of tariffs and maliciously undermine the free market order. The United States has long been familiar with this routine, and when it first hyped up the "data security" problem of Chinese automobiles, the outside world actually generally expected that the Biden administration would take repressive measures.
However, some US media analysts believe that the United States is not an overseas market valued by Chinese automobiles, so the impact of the United States' tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles is relatively limited. In addition, this round of tariffs may not involve photovoltaics, solar panels and other products. Therefore, the Biden administration's attack on China this time is more of a show, showing a tough stance on China, which is a common election method.
Biden
First of all, no matter what the purpose of the US side, this move will inevitably damage the actual interests of relevant Chinese companies and will also have a negative impact on China-US relations, so China will inevitably resolutely oppose it. Second, although China's electric vehicles do not rely on the U.S. market, the scope of the U.S. crackdown may not be the whole vehicle, but the supply chain.
For example, South Korea's electric vehicles could also face huge tariffs if they use Chinese components, which is entirely possible. In this way, it will not only damage the interests of the mainland electric vehicle industry, but also seriously damage the global electric vehicle production and supply chain system. What the specific situation will depend on the details that the Biden administration is about to announce.
Automobile production line
However, if the United States really intends to fight a trade war with China in the field of new energy, the result will inevitably be self-inflicted. On the one hand, China has a very strong market competitiveness in strategic products such as electric vehicles and solar panels, and even if the United States uses large-scale subsidies, it may not be able to form an advantage over Chinese companies. On the other hand, in the era of globalization, it is not realistic to block Chinese products from the door by setting up trade barriers, and it will also have an impact on the US manufacturing industry. Trump's earlier tariffs are examples of US consumers.
In fact, the real threat to the United States is not China, but the United States itself. The lack of competitiveness in related industries is the result of the long-term hollowing out of the manufacturing industry in the United States. Enterprises supported by large-scale subsidies to prevent overseas products from entering the U.S. domestic market, instead of respecting market rules and actively participating in fair competition to stimulate the growth of enterprises, have always lacked competitiveness.
U.S.-China competition
Now, on the basis of the semiconductor field, the United States has opened a new front against China in the new energy industry, which shows that the Sino-US trade friction has a tendency to expand. Behind this is the United States' eagerness to maintain its hegemonic status, and it also shows that the United States has seriously lacked self-confidence and needs to forcibly reverse the situation by breaking the "rules of the game" set by itself. We need to prepare for the worst.