The defenders of free trade in the United States are not particularly loud at the moment. In the presidential election campaign, incumbent Joe Biden and his challenger Donald Trump are currently outdoing each other with punitive tariffs on Chinese products. America First is no longer just the nationalist battle cry of right-wing populists, but rather a political consensus across party lines.
America First is also the basis of the Biden administration’s economic policy program, which became visible once again on Tuesday: The US President announced that he would maintain import taxes on the vast majority of Chinese goods that his predecessor had introduced. Biden has significantly increased tariffs on strategically important products such as electric vehicles, high-performance batteries and steel, and he even introduced new tariffs on other products such as medical face masks and syringes.
The Republicans would like even higher punitive tariffs
Biden was criticized by the Republicans, traditionally the party of business. However, not because he is raising hurdles for free trade – but because they are not high enough. These are “fake tariffs,” complained Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, currently popular as a possible vice presidential candidate alongside Donald Trump. “China is trying to wipe out the American auto industry, and Biden is doing nothing about it,” wrote Rubio on the social network
However, those who think differently still exist. One of the few who spoke out loudly on Tuesday was, of all things, a Democrat, and one who is repeatedly considered a possible presidential candidate when Biden’s term comes to an end. “This is terrible news for American consumers and a major setback for clean energy,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis, commenting on Biden’s announcement. “Tariffs are a direct, regressive tax on Americans, and this tax increase will affect every family.”
Before his political career, Polis founded various Internet companies and amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in wealth from their sales. He based his comment on his climate protection projects in Colorado. Polis wants to supply the sunny state in the Rocky Mountains entirely with renewable energy by 2040. Polis sees these climate protection goals in question because American-made solar panels are more expensive than Chinese ones, if they are available at all. It is right that Biden is trying to build a domestic supply chain for solar energy. “But tariffs are not the answer,” Polis wrote in a submission to Biden’s trade representative. It will take several years to build up production capacity in the USA. In the meantime, tariffs would only create uncertainty and increase costs for consumers. Many climate activists do not share this assessment. The environmental organization Sierra Club, like many others, expressed its support for Biden: Dependence on foreign oil cannot be replaced by dependence on Chinese solar technology.
Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at the Harvard Kennedy School, also criticizes. He supports the president’s efforts to boost American renewable energy production. These are trade policy instruments that are necessary to cushion the consequences of climate change, he argued in an article for Project Syndicate. On the other hand, taxes on foreign products should be rejected because they have too many harmful side effects.
The retail interest group, the National Retail Federation, accuses Biden of fueling inflation with his trade policy. The US China Business Council also fears higher prices. Ultimately, this will make it more difficult for American companies to remain competitive on international markets. The lobbying association is now trying to obtain exemptions for tariff exemptions for individual product categories, an option that Biden’s trade representative introduced on Tuesday.
The haggling over who can benefit to what extent from Biden’s protectionist economic policy and who has to shoulder the bill is just beginning – albeit far away from the election campaign, in which Biden and Trump are vying for the favor of steel and auto workers in the American rust belt.