US war on Chinese electric cars has begun — RT World News

by Timur FomenkoPolitical analyst

The Biden administration announced this Launching an investigation into the Chinese “smart cars” He pledged to protect the American auto industry. As usual, the White House described the cars as A “A threat to national security” They claimed, baselessly, that they were able to transfer data to China.

Of course, any experienced and well-intentioned observer should know that the letter “National security threats” It is almost always used as a justifiable premise, often without evidence, for a particular Chinese product or service to be blacklisted and deserving of being excluded from the US market. Hence, Huawei, among other Chinese companies, has been treated similarly.

This rhetoric has often bordered on hysterical, with one recent example being Florida Senator Rick Scott Saying that the garlic is Chinese source He posed a threat to national security. This may be an anomaly, but when it comes to technology, anything and everything that comes from China is commonly accused of espionage, with the political consensus using paranoia to justify such harsh policy measures.

In fact, the Biden administration's foreign policy is to attempt to impede China's technological and industrial progress in order to prevent Beijing from moving up the global value chain and eroding American dominance over key industries, thus undermining US hegemony. Most notably, the White House has focused on trying to crush China's semiconductor industry, weaponizing an increasing scope of export controls to try to deny Chinese companies access to advanced semiconductors and associated manufacturing equipment. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described this as a… “Small yard, high fence.” strategy.

It is known that the United States adopts protectionist policies regarding the automobile industry on all fronts, and is strict in dealing with friends and enemies alike in dealing with this industry. In the past few years, there has been political pressure to boost the renewable energy industry, which has led to a surge in demand for electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and other goods around the world. In fact, China has positioned itself as the largest producer and exporter of renewable energy sources on the planet by a mile. It has overtaken Japan to become the world's largest automobile exporter. Demand for Chinese electric cars is booming.

Although Chinese-made cars are already subject to 25% tariffs in the US, competitive and cheaper prices for such models mean this is not a major deterrent and their numbers are growing. Not only that, but China was able to exploit loopholes by starting to manufacture its cars in Mexico, allowing the cars to enter the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and thus experience lower tariffs. This imposes political pressure on the Biden administration, which, with the elections approaching, will naturally tend to show toughness against China in the coming months.

This is because he will face a political opponent who calls for being tougher on China and who, during his previous presidency, had already shifted the course of US economic policy towards protectionism. In other words, Biden will be under political pressure to pay lip service to Trump's economic ideas in order to compensate Trump himself. To get the votes of American workers, he needs to show that he is fighting for American jobs, so targeting Chinese electric cars will be on the agenda. You might add that Major automobile manufacturing states, such as MichiganAn election can be won or lost to him, and that's what cost Hillary Clinton the 2016 election.

Naturally, because of that, the White House is also diving into anti-China hysteria, including saying that Beijing will remotely control electric and smart cars to shut down American roads and systems, among other things. It is a feature of American politics to use defamation, fear, and hysteria to manufacture approval for policies, especially in today's polarized environment. So, although things were calm at a high level between the US and China in the first quarter of 2024, we can expect this year to become as turbulent and unpredictable as it did in 2020, albeit without the most chaotic situation in the world. Covid-19 pandemic. But either way, at the macro level, the United States also doesn't want China to dominate global industries, or as Biden put it: “Technologies of the future.” So, while the United States lags significantly behind China in electric vehicle manufacturing, it will likely take measures to protect its markets.

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