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.
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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.
This is what France is doing.
The subsidy for EV is 27% of the price of the car with a maximum of 4000€. (+3000€ for people with low revenues).
The cost of the car must be under 47000€, the car must weight less than 2400kg and it must have a low environmental impact during its production.
The goal of this last rule is clearly to indirectly exclude cars produced in China. I think tariffs against a specific country is not possible in the European Union so French lawmakers had to come up with a creative solution to exclude Chinese cars.