①The US announced the plan to impose additional taxes on new energy vehicles from China as early as May, and the market has already anticipated it; ②Tariff wars cannot solve the problem of the loss of US real industries, and the US is not the main destination for Chinese new energy vehicle companies to go global.
On September 13, despite strong opposition at home and abroad, the US government announced the final decision to impose the "301 tariffs" on China, further raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other products based on the existing "301 tariffs" on China. On September 14, according to information on the Ministry of Commerce website, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce made a statement on the US's publication of the final measures to increase some of the "301 tariffs" on China, expressing strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition from the Chinese side.
The market is concerned about the impact of the implementation of this tax increase decision. In this regard, industry insiders pointed out thatCompared with the content announced in May, the tariff policy on China's new energy industry in the US's final decision has not been adjusted, it is progress from previous news, and the market has anticipated this.
It is progress from previous news, and the tariff plan was announced as early as May.
In fact, the US government announced this tariff increase plan as early as May this year, and it was originally scheduled to take effect on August 1. However, due to receiving a large number of objections to the tariff increase and applications to expand the scope of tariff exemptions, the US government announced on July 30 and August 30 that it would postpone the effective date twice. Industry insiders pointed out that for the purpose of election campaign and other reasons, the US government finally refused to listen and chose to act alone, pressing China with high tariffs to cater to the so-called "political correctness" in the US.
This tariff increase by the US mainly targets China's new energy industry. After the plan was announced, hundreds of companies, industry associations, and others submitted more than 1,000 opinions to the US government, most of which were objections. The reasons for opposition include disrupting global trade order, increasing costs and harming the interests of companies and consumers, inability to seek alternative products, reducing employment, weakening corporate competitive advantages, damaging public health, and affecting the shipping industry.
Among them,Ford Motor has expressed clear opposition, citing the fact that Ford currently relies heavily on China for the supply of artificial graphite, a key material for electric vehicle batteries.
Some foreign media have pointed out that the final decision to increase tariffs by the US government largely ignores the demands of American auto manufacturers, leading to dissatisfaction within the industry.
However, compared to the content announced in May, the final decision released by the United States does not adjust the tariff policies on China's new energy industry, reflecting progress on previous news with market expectations already in place. For example, imposing 100% tariffs on electric vehicles, 50% tariffs on semiconductors and solar energy batteries, and 25% tariffs on lithium batteries and critical minerals.
It is well known that Chinese photovoltaic, lithium battery, and other new energy industry companies are actively promoting international cooperation in the industry supply chain, effectively driving the global green and low-carbon economic development. In order to suppress China's new energy industry and seek unilateral benefits, the US government is forcibly attempting to "decouple and break the chain".
Industry insiders point out that the tariff war cannot solve the problem of the loss of real industries in the United States.
Industry insiders emphasize that the problem of the loss of real industries in the United States does not stem from competition from Chinese companies, and the tariff war will not resolve this issue.Taking the electric vehicle industry with the highest proportion of the current tariff increase as an example, in 2023, the number of pure electric passenger vehicles exported from China to the United States was only 0.0124 million units, accounting for less than 1% of the total exports and amounts to the US. In the first quarter of this year, Chinese car companies exported only 2217 vehicles to the United States, showing that the United States is not the primary destination for China's new energy vehicle companies to expand overseas.
For the solar energy battery industry, considering the 'double reverse' tariffs, '201' tariffs, and existing '301 tariffs', the actual tariffs on the single-sided photovoltaic modules and double-sided photovoltaic modules exported from China to the US have reached 80% and 65% respectively. However, due to the advanced technological level and cost control of Chinese companies, along with a well-established global production capacity, the actual impact of these tariffs is extremely limited. In August of this year, amid high tariffs on Chinese companies and on local companies in a protectionist move by the US regarding the solar energy industry, the leading US solar energy company SunPower still filed for bankruptcy due to lack of competitiveness. In fact, since last year, hundreds of US solar energy companies have gone bankrupt or ceased their solar energy business.
Reuters reported on the 14th that according to analysis by Jason Oxman, Chairman of the Information Technology Industry Council, representing the US technology industry, US companies and consumers have incurred a cumulative loss of $221 billion since the United States imposed tariffs on China. The US government has been trying to "protect" domestic industries by imposing tariffs and even trying to force the relocation of industry chains. However, contrary to expectations, research has shown that the trade diversion effects of US tariffs are limited. In addition to increasing import costs, the policy goal of reducing dependence on China has not been achieved.
The US-China Business Council (USCBC) also stated in a declaration that these additional tariffs, like the current tariffs, have increased the difficulty for US companies to compete domestically and internationally, resulting in job losses and rising consumer prices, and will actually harm US companies, consumers, and the overall economy.
Facts have repeatedly proven that the US attempt to suppress Chinese industries through tariffs has never been realized, and this distorted unilateral protection will only distort the domestic market in the United States. Such blatant unilateral measures that violate WTO rules will seriously impact the confidence in long-term stable cooperation between China and the US in related industries and have a negative impact on global industry and supply chain cooperation.
