Dem
51
GOP
49
The European Union has now announced that it will impose tariffs of up to 38% on the importation of electric cars from China. This is to protect European car manufacturers who can't compete with the Chinese cars, many or all of which are implicitly or explicitly subsidized by the Chinese government.
China is not at all happy about this and may retaliate in various ways. Among other things, some key parts for European electric cars, especially materials needed for the batteries, come from China. China could ban the export of these products or put a huge tax on them.
Trade is a political issue in the U.S., too. Donald Trump has promised big tariffs on Chinese products as well and has campaigned on that. It will therefore be interesting to see how China responds to the E.U.'s action. If it bans the export of key materials or puts a prohibitive tax on them, it could allow Joe Biden to say: "Look what happened when Europe put on the tariff Trump wants. It is going to cost them millions of jobs."
These feints and counterfeints don't always happen quickly, but by November the dust might have settled and could show what could happen if Trump were to carry out his trade policy. (V)