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11. Various of EVs on display at Beijing Auto Show

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The United States will feel more painful each time it abuses tariffs on China, said a commentary published by the China Media Group (CMG) on Wednesday.

An English-language version of the commentary is as follows:

"Tariff hikes lack basis,""more symbolic bark than bite,"…since the U.S. government announced new tariffs on Chinese products on May 14, there has been much questioning and criticism worldwide. Many media agencies deem that the United States has constantly politicized economic issues, undermined normal China-U.S. trade and hindered the development of relevant industries, which is lifting a rock to hurt its own feet in an increasing aching manner.

In March 2018, the then Trump administration provoked a trade war with China based on the so-called "Section 301" investigation and set high tariffs on approximately 360 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese goods exported to the U.S.

In May 2022, before the four-year China tariffs expired, the Biden administration announced the beginning of relevant review process.

On May 14 local time, the U.S. released the results of its review and announced it would further increase tariffs on China, involving the "new trio", namely, electric vehicles (EVs), lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, as well as critical minerals, semiconductors, steel and aluminum, port cranes, and personal protective equipment.

Among them, the import tariff increase on Chinese EVs is eye-popping -- from 27.5 percent to 102.5 percent. Import tariffs on solar cells rose from 25 percent to 50 percent, and the tariff rate on lithium-ion batteries was raised from 7.5 percent to 25 percent.

It's in plain sight that the current move of the U.S. government is targeting China's new energy-related industry. It makes the contextual explanation of the intense hyping by U.S. senior officials over China's "overcapacity" in new energy industry. They were just creating excuses for tariff hikes.

The U.S. has once again wielded the stick of tariff. Will it work?

Facing barriers of restrictions, Chinese electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and chips have not entered the U.S. market on a large scale. Data shows that, currently, electric vehicles, medical supplies, and semiconductor products only account for 5.9 percent of China's total exports to the United States, which is less than 1 percent of China's total exports. In 2023, the number of electric vehicles exported from China to the United States was only slightly over 10,000, accounting for less than 1 percent of its total EV exports. In the first quarter of this year, China's exports of electric vehicles to the U.S. were less than 2000 units.

Based on this, the Nikkei Asian Review pointed out that Chinese industries related to this are not dependent on the U.S. market, so it is difficult for U.S. additional tariffs to have a substantial impact on Chinese companies. Bloomberg also analyzed that the U.S. government is targeting China's green technology sector, which may seem intense but in reality only has symbolic significance and "will barely dent Beijing's growth".

Such being the case, why did the U.S. do this?

Analysts pinpointed that on the one hand, since the U.S. cannot prevail over China in such fields as new energy, U.S. politicians have to resort to trade protectionist measures to suppress the development of China's advantageous industries, so as to create a more favorable competition environment for U.S. enterprises and maintain the high-end position of the U.S. in global industrial chain.

On the other hand, it seems more like a political show. This year is an election year in the U.S., but the U.S. economy has been mired in multiple predicament such as high inflation and high fiscal deficit. Therefore, the current U.S. government has taken on the habitual indulgence of diverting trouble to other countries.

As many analysts noted, the Biden administration is provoking a trade war with China to essentially meet its domestic political needs, posing a hardline stance against China on economic issues to woo more votes from voters in the swing states.

So, can high tariffs help American politicians achieve what they want in their smug calculations?

From an economic perspective, the sluggish development of new energy vehicles in the U.S. has domestic reasons, including high production costs and insufficient supporting infrastructure such as charging piles. The U.S. auto industry workers' strike that broke out in the second half of last year further reflected that the U.S. government's development of new energy vehicles has affected the interests of its traditional auto industry. These internal problems cannot be solved by imposing additional tariffs.

U.S. trade specialist Scott Lincicome pointed out that U.S. tariff hikes cannot help its indigenous industries prosper, but instead distort the market.

As for the U.S. politicians' attempt to gain more votes through tariff hikes, it's probably their pipe dream, because myriads of facts have proven that the trade war with China that the U.S. started in 2018 has made American companies and people pay a heavy price.

Moody's has estimated that 92 percent of the costs of the tariff hikes have fallen on U.S. consumers, while average U.S. household expenditure increases by 1,300 U.S. dollars annually.

Other researches showed that the trade war with China has cost U.S. companies 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars in market valuation and loss of about 250,000 jobs.

In October, The Hill admitted in an article that "the China tariffs have failed economically, politically and legally."

It hasn't been long since the last lesson, yet the U.S. government repeated its mistake once again. This is bound to hurt American companies and consumers more seriously.

Statistics show that currently, 30 percent to 51 percent of components in EV brands native to the United States originate from China. The U.S. automakers are generally concerned that the increased tariffs on China will drive up the EV manufacturing costs, increase the burden on American consumers, and eventually seriously affect the transformation and upgrading of the U.S. auto sector.

Facts have proven that the outstanding capacity of China's new energy industries was developed in open competition, which has not only enriched global supply and eased global inflation pressure, but also contributed greatly to global response to climate change and green transformation.

The U.S.' suppression of China by hook or by crook cannot stop China's development and rejuvenation, but instead exposes its insane disarray and confirms its status as a disruptor of international rules. The U.S. will only feel more painful as it wields the tariff baton.