Biden, Trump China tariffs draw on old, losing playbook

As Joe Biden throws down the gauntlet in his bid to defeat Donald Trump, the US president risks repeating one of his predecessor’s biggest blunders.

This week, Biden will unveil plans to quadruple taxes on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports and slap huge tariffs on other key industries. The new levies on mainland EVs will reportedly skyrocket to 102.5%. Other priority industries could see tariffs double or triple.

It’s Biden’s latest ploy to out-Trump Trump, and ultimately a losing ticket in terms of raising American living standards. It also risks provoking China to retaliate in ways that backfire on US consumers and investors.

Biden’s desire to relive 1985 arguably makes sense from a political standpoint ahead of the November 5 election. That is the era during which levies of the kind Biden is mulling – and Trump used from 2017 to 2021 – might have worked.

In 2024, though, Team Biden is endeavoring to protect an economic system that no longer exists. Just as Trump did during his time in the White House, back when he imposed taxes of at least 10% on all mainland goods and others on steel and aluminum.

With Trump telegraphing 60% tariffs on Chinese goods in a second term, Biden’s administration is clearly trying to avoid appearing easy on Asia’s biggest economy. Yet trying to kill China’s EV market isn’t the way to do it.

For starters, it’s unclear that Biden’s EV tariff plan would even make much of a dent. One issue, as Asia Times business editor David Goldman argues, is that currently no Chinese cars are even on offer in the US right now.

Many economists are calling it “economic symbolism” that will do more to placate Elon Musk than slow China’s rise. The Tesla founder has warned that without big tariffs, Chinese