Tariffs won’t stop China’s dominance of electric vehicles

One of the most useful distinctions in economic policy is between purpose-driven and profit-driven motivations. While it is difficult to deny that, under the right conditions, the pursuit of profit can lead to preferred outcomes for consumers, it is equally difficult to deny that consumer satisfaction is not the only objective of policy. economic. No one knows this better than the Chinese, who have pursued a targeted economic strategy for decades. But it is only now that the West is realizing this.

On Tuesday, Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce quadrupling tariffs on Chinese imports of electric vehicles (EVs). For several years, Xi Jinping has put the full weight of Beijing’s political and economic apparatus into the quest to dominate the global production of electric vehicles. From the rare earth metals needed to produce batteries to the design of cars, China is poised to control every crucial link in supply chains, providing geopolitical leverage for potential conflict. future.

Thanks to Beijing’s dominance of rare minerals essential to the energy transition, more than 90% of solar panels in Europe are now imported from China. This was not the consequence of free market forces but rather of deliberate policies aimed at making China the main supplier of “clean” energy technologies, using “dirty” coal, government subsidies and – more likely than not – – forced labor.