Up to 100 per cent duty for e-cars from China in the USA
According to the US plan, tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in particular could quadruple to up to 100 percent. Semiconductors are also to be affected.
The trade conflict between the USA and China is intensifying.
(Image: danielo/Shutterstock.com)
Washington wants to step up its game in the trade war with China. US President Joe Biden is planning to impose extensive new tariffs on e-cars, semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies such as syringes and protective clothing imported from China. US news agencies and media are unanimously reporting this about government circles. An official announcement could therefore be made as early as Tuesday. The surcharges for e-vehicles in particular are likely to quadruple - from the current 25 percent to 100 percent. The background to this is that the Chinese car manufacturer BYD, for example, sells an electric car launched on the Chinese market last year locally for the equivalent of around 12,000 US dollars. Counterparts from US manufacturers cost three or four times as much.
Members of the government camp from the Democratic Party have long complained about China's "overcapacity" in the production of electric vehicles and other goods, which are then sold internationally at dumping prices. They see this as a threat to US jobs and national security. The EU also fears that a wave of cheap Chinese exports will overwhelm domestic production. On the US side, there is also concern that China's massive production of super-cheap solar panels and computer chips, for example, will undermine the massive investments that are to be mobilized as part of the controversial Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) or the Chips Act.
The EU Commission is also considering punitive tariffs
The expected measures are likely to largely maintain the tariffs introduced by the government of Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump. They relate to Chinese goods worth around 360 to 370 billion US dollars. Trump, who wants to challenge Biden in November, is also campaigning for extensive tariffs on goods from China to reduce the US trade deficit with the Middle Kingdom. Meanwhile, Sherrod Brown, the Democratic senator from Ohio, demanded on social media on Friday: "Tariffs are not enough. We need to ban Chinese electric vehicles from the US. Period."
In October, the EU Commission launched an investigation into subsidies for battery electric vehicles from China. With comparatively low prices, such cars could "distort the European car market", Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) emphasized in advance. According to reports, the Brussels government institution is now also on the verge of imposing punitive tariffs on imports of Chinese e-vehicles. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing published a draft on Wednesday to "strengthen control over the lithium-ion battery industry and promote the high-quality growth of the sector". Technological innovation, higher quality and lower costs are to take priority over capacity expansions. The ministry wants to close down battery factories that were built on agricultural land, for example.
(bme)
