White House levy to protect US makers from cheap imports likely to inflame trade tensions

The US president, Joe Biden, has announced a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles as part of a package of measures designed to protect US manufacturers from cheap imports.

In a move that is likely to inflame trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, the White House said it was imposing more stringent curbs on Chinese goods worth $18bn.

Sources said the move followed a four-year review and was a preventive measure designed to stop cheap subsidised Chinese goods flooding the US market and stifling the growth of the American green technology sector.

Despite the risks of retaliation from Beijing, Biden said the increased levies were a proportionate response to China’s overcapacity in the EV sector. Sources said China was producing 30m EVs a year but could sell only 22-23m domestically.

  • steventrouble@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    Uyghur slavery represents a very small fraction of Chinese labor. Yes, it is a human rights abuse and should absolutely be stopped, but bringing it up every time someone talks about a Chinese product with no known ties to slave labor is an anti-asian dogwhistle.

    China is a big place, with 10x as many people as in the U.S. Let’s try not to generalize about 3 billion people.