The Guardian-Biden White House to expand tariffs on Chinese trade
May 10, 2024 3 min 531 words
这篇报道主要内容是，美国总统拜登预计将于下周宣布对中国贸易产品扩大关税，重点针对电动汽车电池和太阳能电池等战略行业，这是对特朗普时期实施的关税措施的延续和扩展。报道还提到，特朗普曾对中国电动汽车进口征收27.5的关税，拜登延续了这一政策，导致美国道路上中国制造汽车的数量极少。此外，拜登还在调查中国的航运业，并呼吁对中国钢铁和铝产品提高关税，此举被认为是针对工会工人的选票。报道援引美国制造联盟的说法，称中国汽车进入美国市场将是“美国汽车制造商的毁灭性事件”。特朗普也威胁说，如果他当选总统，将对来自中国工厂的每辆汽车征收100的关税。 评论：这篇报道带有明显的偏见，试图营造一种美国对华贸易强硬的印象，并煽动对中国产品和技术的恐惧。报道中出现“毁灭性事件”和“收集美国关键基础设施信息”等用词，明显带有情绪化色彩。此外，报道过度强调中国产品的价格优势和技术先进性，试图制造一种不公平竞争的印象。然而，报道没有提到的是，美国自身的经济结构和产业政策也存在问题，导致美国在相关行业的竞争力下降。报道也忽略了关税对美国消费者带来的负面影响，以及特朗普和拜登政府贸易保护主义政策的潜在后果。该报道缺乏客观公正，过度强调了中美贸易的紧张局势，而忽视了双方的合作空间和互利互惠的可能性。
Joe Biden is expected as early as next week to announce fresh tariffs on Chinese trade, with levies focused on strategic sectors including electric vehicles, in a review of measures first put into place under Donald Trump.
An announcement planned for Tuesday will keep the blanket tax rises introduced by the president’s predecessor but supplement them with targeted levies on industries connected to EVs, including batteries and solar cells, according to reports.
The plan, first reported by Bloomberg, would be the culmination of a review of the sweeping tariffs on Beijing that began in 2018. During his presidency, Trump imposed a 27.5% tax on imports of Chinese EVs that Biden has since extended, which has kept the number of Chinese-made cars on US roads extremely low.
If introduced, the EV tariffs would represent one of Biden’s biggest moves in the trade war with China. Last month, the president launched an investigation into the Chinese shipping industry alongside a call for higher levies on Chinese steel and aluminium as part of an appeal to union workers before the presidential election in November.
While China does not directly sell EVs in the US, it has majority stakes in other overseas firms that sell Chinese-made cars. Political leaders fear Chinese EV imports because China is able to undercut American manufacturers on price, while including more powerful batteries and advanced technology. The Alliance for American Manufacturing, an advocacy group, has said the introduction of Chinese cars to the US market would be an “extinction-level event” for US carmakers.
The EU and the US are reeling from a deluge of cheaper imports from China off the back of President Xi Jinping’s strategy to ramp up manufacturing as he attempts to turn around the economy. The restrictions on imports of Chinese “smart cars” would also address security concerns, since many have modems that could be hacked. The White House has said that cars connected to the internet could use cameras and sensors to collect details on and interact with critical US infrastructure.
In March, Trump said that if elected as president later this year he would put a 100% tariff on “every single car that comes across the line” from Chinese-owned manufacturing plants in China. “They are not going to sell those cars,” he said. He has promised to raise taxes on all Chinese imports by 60%, an approach critics say would raise prices for US consumers already grappling with inflation.
In April, Biden said he was “not looking for a fight with China” but that the US needed to stand up to China’s “unfair economic practices and industrial overcapacity”. “I’m looking for competition, but fair competition,” he said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In October last year, the EU said it was investigating evidence that the Beijing government provides illegal financial assistance to the Chinese EV industry. The inquiry may result in the introduction of additional tariffs by July. Similar investigations found that Chinese e-bikes and fiber optic cables were also being subsidised by a margin of between 4% and 17%.