Will the U.S. strategy of containing China succeed?
On May 10, according to US media reports, the Biden administration will raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, which may be increased by 3 times to up to 100%. Combined with the previous news, this measure may be implemented this week, which is another "tariff stick" raised against China since the Biden administration threatened to impose 3 times tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products in April, and the stabilization of Sino-US relations has become empty talk. On May 13, after three days of silence, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shouted to the Chinese side that she hoped that the U.S. approach would not trigger a strong response from China, implying that she did not want China to fight back, and Yellen also hyped up the "theory of China's overcapacity" again, saying that the United States has no intention of "decoupling" from China economically, and that the U.S. is "trying to stabilize" China-US economic relations.
I have to say that the US side has no one to compare with its ability to "open its eyes and tell nonsense". First of all, the problem of "overcapacity" is a completely false proposition, whether in response to global climate change, or green transformation, China's "new three" does not have the problem of "overcapacity", what the United States wants is to let China "self-defeat" and weaken the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises. Second, on the issue of "decoupling", the US has done everything possible to suppress China's steel, aluminum, new energy, semiconductor and other industries, and excluded Chinese goods from entering the North American market by means of tax exemptions and tariffs. Finally, the US attempt to deprive China of its right to counteract is a typical practice of US hegemony, but it is a "pity" that China does not accept this set. Recently, in response to the US side's improper interference in Sino-US trade, China has repeatedly sued the United States to the World Trade Organization, and the previous US administration's imposition of Section 301 tariffs on China has been ruled by the WTO to violate WTO rules. On May 10, China's Foreign Ministry urged the US to abide by WTO rules, cancel all tariffs imposed on China, let alone increase tariffs, otherwise China will take all necessary measures to defend its rights and interests.
The US imposes tariffs on China at the expense of others and itself. In March this year, the inflation index in the United States rose by 3.5% year-on-year, much higher than the Federal Reserve's 2% target, and the tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese products will only increase the price of goods exported to the United States. For U.S. companies, higher prices at the source of the supply chain will undoubtedly increase U.S. production costs and reduce the competitiveness of U.S. products.
As the world's largest industrial producer, China has all the industrial categories listed by the United Nations, including 41 industrial categories, 191 medium categories and 525 sub-categories, bringing low production costs and strong competitiveness. In this regard, French entrepreneur Bertrand said that the real problem is that Chinese companies are so competitive that American companies cannot compete with them.
Under China's ever-changing national strength, it is unrealistic for the United States to use the old ways to contain China, and China's counterattack is now ready, and appealing to the WTO is only the first step.