The announcement was made by Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, on Tuesday, June 4th, to increase tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100%, emphasizing the critical importance of a healthy development of the U.S. automotive industry.
“We need to have this industry on U.S. soil. If we don’t do this, we’re going to hand over a whole territory to China, just like what happened with solar panels,” Granholm said during an interview with Reuters.
She pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party’s industrial policy plan is very aggressive, and that in the past, the U.S. hadn’t done anything, but now they are taking some measures.
Washington has invested billions of dollars in clean energy tax subsidies to develop the U.S. electric vehicle, solar, and other emerging industries. The U.S. government also stated that under the promotion of the Chinese authorities, China’s excess production capacity in these areas threatens the survival of American companies.
The new tariffs from the Biden administration are set to take effect on August 1st. The aim of this measure is to protect U.S. employment and shield it from the impact of large quantities of cheap Chinese products flooding the market.
“We want to have a manufacturing backbone. We have to be tough on this,” Granholm stated.
She mentioned that excluding low-cost Chinese electric vehicles from entering the U.S. will not prevent American car manufacturers from lowering their prices. She said, “U.S. automakers are doing everything they can to continue reducing prices.”
When asked about the criticism from the Republican Party regarding electric vehicles, Granholm said that if future Congress overturns the tax incentives for electric vehicles, it will be deemed as “political malpractice,” as this policy also benefits automotive workers in states that support the Republican Party.
Granholm added, “Any president would support countering China’s industrial policy—this is our response, our countermeasure.”
She also mentioned that by the end of this year, approximately 1,000 public electric vehicle charging stations are expected to be in operation, funded by a $7.5 billion federal government project.