• SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      Didn’t these ghouls put massive tariffs on Chinese EV’s and solar panels? How the fuck is that helping?

      Oh, okay tankie, I guess you just don’t understand how protectionist measures work. They boost US industry by encouraging domestic prod–

      Will these protectionist measures work? While the previous tariff measures did reduce the number of Chinese solar panels coming to the US (with an 86% drop over the 2012-2020 period), the billions in subsidies, from first Obama and then Biden, did not revitalise the US solar industry. On the contrary, the American global market share of the solar industry has considerably decreased since the original tariffs were placed — from 9% in 2010 to 2% today. Meanwhile, China’s share of the industry rose from 59% to 78%. There’s no reason to believe that the recent tariff increase will reverse this trend. There’s even less hope that they will help spur a domestic EV industry.

      It is thus no surprise that while the US government tries to block Chinese EV imports with tariffs, US firms are trying to recapture the EV market by licensing the superior technology of lead Chinese firms! Ford (in Michigan) and Tesla (in Nevada) are partnering with China’s CATL to make batteries. CATL says that it has structured its licensing deal with Ford so that it is compliant with “foreign entity of concern” rules. For its part, Tesla already uses Chinese BYD cells in Germany; Ford and GM use BYD batteries. Even Trump doesn’t like the idea of a ‘great wall’ against Chinese FDI in America. Speaking at an Ohio rally in March, he signalled an openness to Chinese firms building plants “in Michigan, in Ohio, in South Carolina”—so long as they were prepared to employ American workers.

      US manufacturing hasn’t seen productivity growth in 17 years. That makes it increasingly impossible for the US to compete in key areas, and Biden’s ‘industrial policy’ will fail to deliver unless it can end that stagnation. China’s manufacturing sector is now the dominant force in world production and trade. Its production exceeds that of the nine next largest manufacturers combined.

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    • MolotovHalfEmpty [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      Libs always fucking do this when comparing their ‘achievements’ to anyone who isn’t in a position of power.

      We made this symptom of the problem 10% better while continuing and exacerbating the root cause! You activists and complainers haven’t done anything!

      Perhaps not making the root cause worse is preferable.