Claims that the subsidies run counter to WTO rules are unlikely to have any impact on US policy. There has always been a latent protectionism in the US (as there has in the EU as well) and it is becoming more pronounced. Biden wants to shore up his support in blue-collar communities that see themselves as the victims of globalisation. What’s more, he could only get action on climate change through Congress if it was seen to be good for American jobs. The fact that a more aggressive industrial policy goes with the grain of US geopolitical objectives is the icing on the cake.

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