A China EV Trade War Would Be Self-Defeating for Carmakers
European players have taken a different tone with Beijing than their more hawkish US counterparts. Now is not the time to pick a fight.
There's a better way.
Photographer: Lam Yik/BloombergA nasty thing about waging war is that your enemies have a habit of fighting back. That’s a lesson German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would do well to keep in mind during his visit to China this week, amid a brewing trade fight over clean technology.
The visit comes within days of a trip by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who warned that “artificially cheap” Chinese-made electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar panels were causing “negative spillovers” in the US and around the world. Far from calling a ceasefire in President Donald Trump’s trade wars, the Biden administration appears now to be re-arming in an attempt to neutralize the issue ahead of elections in November.