Like them or not, tariffs, quotas, and tax incentives to keep manufacturers invested locally, are now a tool that Democratic and Republican Presidents are using. The WSJ called tariffs a “tool of geopolitics”. If trade was remotely free (it’s not), or fair (it isn’t), none of these tools would be required. If the U.S. wants … Read More
US President Joe Biden is stepping up tariffs on products from China in response to what American officials call unfair trade practices. After a review of the increased tariffs his predecessor, Donald Trump, imposed on Chinese imports, the Biden administration said in May that it would maintain those and add more of its own. Both administrations have justified the moves by … Read More
In 2023, the Department of Commerce determined that Chinese solar was making its way into the US duty-free, despite tariffs on imports from the country. Instead, Chinese producers would route their modules through Southeast Asia, which traded freely with the US. Since the the moratorium was lifted on Thursday, two major Chinese solar companies announced … Read More
Volvo cars has started to shift production of Chinese-made electric vehicles to Belgium in the expectation that the European Union will drive ahead with a crackdown on Beijing-subsidised imports, the Times reported on Saturday. Volvo, which is majority-owned by China’s Geely, was considering halting sales of Chinese-built EVs bound for Europe if tariffs were introduced, … Read More
Graphite has become the latest resource to cause trade tensions between the US and China, with Washington putting pressure on EV and battery makers to build a new non-Chinese supply chain for graphite anodes, a crucial component in electric vehicle batteries. The US trade representative has announced that 25 per cent tariffs on natural and … Read More
The tariff imposed will be a minimum of $7,000, according to a presidential decision published in the Official Gazette. The decision will be effective after 30 days. Turkey had raised customs duty on Chinese electric vehicles in 2023 to support the country’s first domestically produced EV. Turkey will raise tariffs on all vehicle purchases from … Read More
Some conflate foreign purchases of these assets with “investment,” but less than 5 percent of foreign direct “investment” goes toward building new American industrial capacity. The other 95 percent goes toward acquiring Treasury bonds (U.S. government debt) or stocks, bonds, and real estate from our private sector. Before the 1970s, foreigners held only 5 percent … Read More
What an utterly ridiculous thing to say that “trade protectionism helps nobody.” Not one person? Not one job was ever saved by U.S. protective tariffs? Not one American factory avoided closing and moving overseas? This only reinforces my earlier point that free traders are the most bereft-of-integrity academic thinkers in the U.S. today. Read the … Read More
Chinese-owned companies’ global market share in solar products is more than 80 percent. The current environment, if left unaddressed, threatens America’s ambitions of building a domestic solar manufacturing supply chain and mitigating the risk of an overreliance on Chinese solar. A recent analysis by the CPA Economics Team warned that the U.S. solar industry is … Read More
Longi Green Energy Technology Co. began gradually winding down activity at a plant in Malaysia this week after halting all five production lines at a facility in Vietnam the week before, Chinese trade publication Arfcg.com reported Tuesday. Instead of capturing a growing market, the new supply has overwhelmed demand, prompting US and European officials to … Read More
