President Biden warns of new surge in cheap Chinese products threatening to American factories.Official trade data show little sign that Chinese steel imports have fallen sharply from last year, while the gap between what the U.S. sells to China and what it buys is at post-pandemic lows.
But the president’s aides are ignoring the numbers and focusing instead on what they say are troubling signs from China and Europe.These include data showing growing demand for production in China Large-ticket items such as cars and heavy metals are growing much faster than domestic consumer demand.
China’s massive subsidies, including loans from state-owned banks, have helped sustain businesses that might otherwise have collapsed as the domestic economy struggled. In many cases, the result is significant cost advantages for Chinese manufactured goods such as steel and electric vehicles.
The U.S. solar industry is already struggling to compete with Chinese exports. In Europe, the problem is much broader.China’s exports are Washing the entire continent, to the chagrin of political leaders and business executives. They could soon pose a threat to some of the U.S. companies Mr. Biden is trying to support with federal grants and tax incentives, much of which comes from his support. Climate Act 2022U.S. officials warned.
To avoid a similar fate, Biden has pledged new measures to protect steel mills, automakers and other U.S. companies from what he calls Beijing’s trade “cheating.”
European officials are grappling with a surge in imports, an issue they will focus on when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the continent for the first time in five years. During Monday’s meeting with President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Urging Xi Jinping to speak A wave of subsidized exports flows from factories in other countries to Western countries.
The frustration expressed by European officials reflects concerns conveyed to Beijing by Biden and his aides: Beijing is deliberately using state support to eat up market share in key industries and drive foreign rivals out of business, as it has done for decades.
“These subsidized products – such as electric cars or steel – are flooding into the European market,” Ms von der Leyen said. “The world cannot absorb China’s excess production.”
Europe has Start imposing tariffs Sanctions on Chinese EVs over what Chinese officials called evidence of illegal state subsidies.
The United States has extensive experience with cheap Chinese products flooding its markets, including a wave of solar panels that undercut the Obama administration’s efforts to cultivate a domestic solar industry. this time, cheap solar panelsThe re-flow into the United States has caused some manufacturers to postpone their investment plans in the United States.
Other goods, such as electric vehicles, have been slower to arrive, in part because of tariffs and other barriers erected by the U.S. government.
Still, Biden administration officials are closely watching Chinese production and price data and taking action to block or slow subsidized imports — particularly in sectors critical to the president’s industrial plans, such as low-carbon energy technologies.
Officials have complained about so-called Chinese overcapacity in public and during recent visits to Beijing by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Mr. Biden has Proposal to increase tariffs Investigation into Chinese steel and aluminum launched China Automotive Technology. His administration is reviewing a series of tariffs imposed by President Donald J. Trump on Chinese goods. It is also considering adding some of these strategically important industries.
“Because Chinese steel companies produce far more steel than China needs, the excess steel ends up being dumped on global markets at unfairly low prices,” Biden told steelworkers in Pittsburgh last month. “And the prices are unfairly low because Chinese steel companies don’t have to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government heavily subsidizes them. They’re not competing. They’re cheating.”
Chinese officials deny the accusations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters last week that the government’s assertion was “not a market-driven conclusion but a carefully crafted narrative to manipulate perceptions and politicize trade”.
“The real purpose is to hinder China’s high-quality development and deprive China of its legitimate right to development,” he said. “There is no ‘overcapacity in China’, but overcapacity anxiety in the United States due to a lack of confidence and smearing China.”
Biden officials said in interviews that China’s export subsidies are starting to harm U.S. manufacturers, including forcing some foreign suppliers of components for U.S.-made products out of business. Yellen said in a speech last month that during a visit to China, she warned Chinese officials that “overcapacity could have negative spillover effects on the global economy.”
Some current and former Biden administration officials say it will take a global effort to thwart China’s export strategy. These include better cooperation between the United States, Europe and other wealthy allies, which is expected to be high on the agenda when G7 leaders meet in Italy next month.
Brian Deese, former director of Biden’s National Economic Council and an architect of the president’s green industrial strategy, said the effort should also include developing countries such as Brazil and India, which have begun pushing back against Beijing’s trade practices.
“What we should do is build a broad international alliance and impose unified tariffs on Chinese industries with overcapacity,” Diess said.
He said such an effort could be critical to protecting investments by U.S. companies in areas like next-generation advanced vehicle batteries and energy storage by giving U.S. companies breathing room rather than being suffocated by artificially cheap competition.
“I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that even if China rises, China will dominate this market,” Diess said.
