Biden's Attempts At Protectionism Are Nothing More Than An Election-Year Red Herring

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The Biden administration made a splash in May when it slapped a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles. The administration’s goal with such a tariff was to protect American companies, jobs, and the overall green industrial policy Mr. Biden hopes will win him points with voters worried that the globe is hurtling toward an ecological apocalypse.

But the real motivation for the tariffs has always been political. Biden said:

“Folks, look: I’m determined that the future of electric vehicles will be made in America, by union workers, period…”

That’s politician-speak for “I’m doing it to win union votes in November.”

A funny thing about tariffs that Biden, his hangers-on, and the claque surrounding his green industrial policy….China just upped the ante on all of them. In the process, it exposed the material weakness of Biden’s populist agenda.

The catalyst was an announcement from the Chinese automaker BYD that it had designed, built, tested, and readied (for its domestic market) a new gas/electric hybrid that could travel up to 1250 miles on a single tank of gas/electric charge.

And cost about $14,000:

The longer range means some of BYD’s dual-mode plug-in electric hybrid cars can cover the equivalent of Singapore to Bangkok, New York to Miami, or Munich to Madrid on each charge and full tank of gas. The milestone marks BYD’s latest achievement in slashing fuel consumption since introducing its first hybrids in 2008.

This is a Big Deal – even if we take the range and price points with a grain or three of salt.

While this cheap, long-haul hybrid isn’t for sale outside China – yet – it immediately shows what’s possible. Sure it’s not a full electric. But that market appear, for now, to have topped out. Hybrids – the mid-point between all gas and all electric – are the new growth area. Detroit automakers are dusting off their shelved hybrid models to meet demand.

BYD has set the bar for range and price. The market will force them to meet these expectations. Or it would, if the Biden administration’s protectionist tariff didn’t stand in the way.

But that’s what tariffs do: they protect domestic manufacturers from cheaper, and often better, goods from abroad. Domestic consumers pay far more for shoddier products…while the businesses being protected get richer and lose any incentive to improve their wares.

That’s the U.S. market Biden’s tariffs will create – all to help him win a few extra votes on election day.

And to be clear, Donald Trump said Biden didn’t raise the tariffs enough. 

Ultimately, both men see no problem with bleeding U.S. consumers if it makes their friends (and voters) in the protected industries happier (and richer).

Even if BYD doesn’t sell a single one of its long-range hybrids outside China, its action helps expose the sham economics behind protectionism…while also showing how little the major parties care about how much the average American consumer has to suffer.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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