Finance & economics | The 100% manoeuvre

Biden outdoes Trump with ultra-high China tariffs

The move, which hits electric vehicles, carries an environmental cost

U.S. President Joe Biden waits to speak at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, United States on November 10th 2021
Photograph: Getty Images
|Washington, DC

Just over six years ago, when Donald Trump first announced tariffs on Chinese goods, it was as if a bomb had gone off. American stocks fell sharply at the prospect of a trade war, businesses warned of blowback and economists lined up to decry the move. Such is the protectionist mood in Washington now that Joe Biden’s announcement of new measures has been met with rather less panic—even though it concerns significantly higher tariffs.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “100% trouble”

From the May 18th 2024 edition

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