Joe Biden hits Chinese electric cars with 102% tariff

Chinese MG4 Electric Vehicle (photo by Alexander-93)

As the USA presidential election continues, the Associated Press reported the following related to the Biden Administration:

May 14, 2024

The Biden administration announced plans to slap new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment — an election year move that’s likely to increase friction between the world’s two largest economies.

The tariffs come in the middle of a heated campaign between President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, in which both candidates are vying to show who’s tougher on China. …

Administration officials have stressed the decision on tariffs was made independently of November’s presidential election. But Brainard noted in her remarks the tariffs would help workers in Pennsylvania and Michigan, two of the battleground states that will decide who wins the election.

Under the findings of a four-year review on trade with China, the tax rate on imported Chinese EVs will rise to 102.5% this year, up from total levels of 27.5%. https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehicles-evs-solar-2024ba735c47e04a50898a88425c5e2c

Well, they can try to deny it but this massive tariff, in my view, is to try to show the electorate in the USA that Joe Biden is tough on China. His supporters have been concerned that he needs to show he can be at least as tough as his rival Donald Trump.

Consider that Donald Trump held a massive rally in New Jersey on Saturday. Notice one comment from a news source about it:

May 11, 2024

During the speech, Trump threw well-worn lines on the border, windmills and electric vehicles, China and migrants. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/11/trump-rally-new-jersey-trial-fascists-00157482

So, Donald Trump again brought up China and electric vehicles. So yes, it certainly appears that part of the reason for the massive tariff increase from the Biden-Harris Administration is political.

Interestingly, I saw the following a couple of days ago about China and its automobile manufacturing:

An industry where China has already taken over the global lead is the car industry. China has spent the past three decades being the world’s main deflationary force in this industry. This begs the question of whether its deflationary impact amplifies from here as wall street consensus thinks. A second view is that the Western world’s relationship with China has changed dramatically in recent years, making it less open to Chinese imports or China’s control of supply chains. Typically, more protectionism means higher, not lower, prices. Thirdly, China’s move up the value chain could prove less deflationary than many investors expect, since China’s recent trade growth has mostly been with emerging economies.

Looking at China’s surging car exports, China has emerged from nowhere to become the world’s largest car exporter by producing and selling cars more cheaply than anyone else. However, these cars are not being sold on the streets of New York, London, or Toronto, but rather on the streets of Jakarta, Bangkok, and Jeddah. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-05-12/make-china-great-again

Probably about six years or so ago, someone in a ‘third world country’ told me that he felt that China would make major automobile inroads because of being a low cost producer. The above report suggests he was right.

However, let me also add that the Chinese MG4 shown at the beginning of this post is also selling in the UK, Germany, and Australia.

That said, back in 2018 in an article about USA-China trade relationships, I wrote:

Expect to see more trade and currency issues.

Expect to see measures and countermeasures.

There will be more ‘unintended consequences’ of USA tariff, trade, and other policies. (Thiel B. ‘U.S.-China trade war is now becoming a currency war, too’. COGwriter, July 23, 2018)

Yes, there will be “unintended consequences” for the USA action.

One will likely be to increase China’s resolve to try to dethrone the USA dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency. While China wants to do that already, today’s tariff announcement will push it further in that direction.

There are almost always costs to tariffs and sanctions to the country that imposes them.

There also may be supply chain issues and inflationary pressures from the tariffs announced today.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Trade Disputes: CCOG Warnings Are Coming to Pass Trade tensions and talks of trade wars have escalated. US President Donald Trump has put Europe, China, Mexico, and other lands on notice that he wants to change how international trade with the USA has been going. Tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, and even more tariffs are being implemented. Is this all just happenstance? Are we yet in a trade war? What will Europe do? Has the Church of God been warning about trade disputes and a coming trade war for decades? What about the Continuing Church of God (CCOG)? What has been warned, what has been happening, and what will happen? Will trade disputes be a factor in World War III (WW3)? Dr. Thiel explains what has been taught and what to expect.
Trade Wars: Are COG warnings coming to pass? Trade issues, tariffs, and talk of trade wars are in the news. Can trade wars lead to World War III like they did to World War II? Are the events going on with the USA, UK, Asia, and Europe consistent with warnings published by the true Church of God (COG) over the past several years and decades? Do Germany and China hope to take advantage of trade frictions involving the Trump Administration and the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement? What about Mexico and South America? Does the Bible teach that Europe will become a major trading power? Will the final European Babylonian trading power be destroyed? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.
The End of US Dollar Dominance Is the USA losing its economic status? What about the petro-gold-yuan? A related video is also available: US Dollar being challenged by Gold-Petro-Yuan.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters Where did the Chinese people come from? This article provides information showing that the Chinese peoples must have known about various accounts in the Book of Genesis up until their dispersion after the Tower of Babel. Here is a link to a version of this article in Spanish: ¿Prueban los caracteres chinos la exactitud de la Biblia?
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: The Sabbath and Some of God’s Witness in China When did Christianity first come to China? And is there early evidence that they observed the seventh day sabbath?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon? Two YouTube video are Is China THE Threat to the United States of America? and China: A King of the East.
Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction Can the USA survive two full presidential terms? In what ways are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris apocalyptic? This book has hundreds of prophecies and scriptures to provide details. A Kindle version is also available and you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to your free Kindle reader app (or if you already have one or a Kindle), you can go to: Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction (Kindle) to get the book in seconds.