Social media abuzz over Chinese EV tariffs

The Joe Biden administration's plan to impose hefty tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and batteries has raised questions on social media, with some calling it anti-climate, anti-competition and an election year gambit.

"Biden gives Plug Power (a US fuel cell company) a $1.66 billion loan commitment and simultaneously tariffs China green energy-related EV parts and metals," Kristoffer Santucci, a stock trader, wrote on X. "That's exactly how you stimulate inflation, fueling the fire, trying to keep this boat afloat through fiscal spending."

One user named Will posted on X, "I'm really curious how the team behind Biden's new China tariffs expects to hit 2030 targets for electric vehicles when they slap huge tariffs on batteries and components for batteries that fuel the EVs."

Marian L. Tupy, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a public policy research group in Washington, said on X: "What to make of Biden's 100 percent tariff on Chinese EVs in light of the 'existential crisis' posed by climate change that EVs are meant to combat? I look forward to the logical pretzels Biden's defenders are about to twist themselves into."

Writer and blogger "Conservative-NotCrazy", who is also publisher of news website InsideSourcesDC, wrote on X: "If climate change is an existential threat and your top priority, why would you quadruple tariffs on cheap, Chinese EVs? How is this going to achieve a zero-carbon economy by 2040?"

David Kudla, CEO of Mainstay Capital Management, said: "Protectionism taken to an extreme. China makes affordable EVs that move the industry forward. But they will be made artificially expensive by tariffs, thus further crushing the growth in EV adoption."

S.L. Kanthan, a columnist and podcaster in India who has 136,000 followers on X, said: "One year ago, people on X were telling me that nobody in the US or Europe would buy a Chinese EV. Today, automakers and politicians in America are freaking out about China taking over the electric car market. Hence the increase of tariffs from 25 percent to 100 percent.

"You can't hide from competition forever!"

Ted Dixon, CEO of INK Research, a financial information company in Vancouver, wrote: "While you may be right about there being situations where tariffs can work, such an approach does not look good for US EVs. I believe the US has had a 27.5 percent tariff on Chinese cars since the Trump years. Raising the levies further signals it's a long road to US EV competitiveness."

Kai Ryssdal, who works for news organization Marketplace and has 266,000 followers on X, said, "For what I believe is the umpteenth time — regardless of party or president — tariffs are paid by American consumers."

Regarding the effect on Chinese EV makers, one account named Rukumis Geopolitics said they are "not only equipped to withstand the impact of US tariffs but can also leverage these challenges as catalysts for further growth and innovation".