President Joe Biden today announced quadrupling the Chinese Electric Vehicle tariff—from the current 25 percent to 100 percent—in a bid to protect the U.S. auto industry from a predicted upcoming flooding of cheap Chinese EVs.
The Chinese EV tsunami has been building over 15 years of state subsidies. According to a Chinese official estimate, its production capacity will reach 36 million units in 2025, while the forecasted annual sales will be only about 15 million. That means Chinese EV overcapacity will reach 20 million next year.
A BYD Ocean-M electric car is displayed at the Beijing Auto Show on April 25, 2024. PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images
Chinese EV brands are not yet available in the U.S. market. However, it’s only a matter of time before they enter here. Last month, BYD, a Chinese national champion reported to have secured $1 billion, a third of the nation’s EV subsidies this year, released a mini EV hatchback at a starting price under $10,000.
Cheap Chinese cars have posed an “extinction-level” challenge to America’s auto industry, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an advocacy group representing unionized steelworkers and other companies in the auto supply chain.
American brands lost a 15 percent domestic market share in the past three years, according to Kelly Blue Book, a vehicle valuation and automotive research company. The lost share was taken up by German and South Korean vehicles, and Swedish brands owned by Chinese.
“It’s the classic—China distorts all the other markets, and then they export their stuff into the United States in those import surges,” Ms. Nazak Nikakhtar, former Assistant Secretary for Industry and Analysis at the Department of Commerce during the Trump administration, told The Epoch Times.
She recommended that Washington negotiate with Europeans, South Koreans, and Japanese to implement volume limits on their exports to the United States.
Biden has raised national security concerns over Chinese cars abusing American consumer data. He called the cars “connected” and “like smartphones on wheels.” However, senior officials said the administration hadn’t considered banning Chinese cars because the tariff decisions were a follow-up on the review of existing tariffs.
—Terri Wu
PRIMARIES
Today voters in three states will go to the polls to pick their party’s nominees for the general election.
Those states include Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia, with control of various state and federal offices on the line.
The contests for president held today will be largely uneventful, as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are already their party’s presumptive nominees.
Also on the ballot for Republicans will be former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley who, despite dropping out of the race at the beginning of March, has continued to rake in double-digit support in Republican contests.
Likewise, Biden is expected to win his primaries comfortably, though Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Marianne Williamson will still appear on some ballots, despite dropping their bid for the presidency already.
The biggest races of the night could help determine the makeup of the House and Senate in the 119th Congress.
Here are the races we’ll be watching.
First up, in Maryland, two Democrats—Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. David Trone (D-Md.)—are in an unusually fierce primary battle in their bid to replace outgoing Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
Trone has poured millions out of his own coffers into the race, but is still only barely leading Alsobrooks, with the most recent poll showing Alsobrooks in a slight lead, meaning the race looks like a toss-up heading into election night.
And though Maryland is almost as blue as they come, this race is far from a coronation: whichever Democrat is nominated will still have to face Larry Hogan, the popular two-term Republican governor, in November.
Polling shows that, while he’s a longshot, Hogan has a serious chance at flipping the seat.
Trone vacated his seat to seek the Senate nomination.
Today, voters in the district will be picking the Republican and Democratic nominees to replace him.
Though the district Trone represents trends toward Democrats, Republicans have some hopes that they can flip the seat if the stars align.
West Virginians are expected to nominate West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice as the Republican nominee for the Senate, despite a primary challenge from Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W. Va.).
The Republican is all but guaranteed to win the seat being vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) come November.
Also on the ballot in West Virginia will be candidates for the governorship being abandoned by Justice, as well as the 2nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Mooney.
Meanwhile, over in Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) will be seeking to hold off a primary challenge from the Trump-adjacent Dan Frei, who’s criticized Bacon as being too moderate.
Still, polls show that the race doesn’t look like a close one, with Bacon leading Frei by 50 points in the most recent poll.
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) will also be on the ballot, but she’s not facing any serious primary challenger.
—Joseph Lord
President Joe Biden speaks in Washington on April 10, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
BIDEN’S BALLOT BATTLE
A deadline for Biden to register to be on the ballot in Ohio has come and gone without a resolution from the state’s Republican-controlled state legislature.
Under Ohio law, candidates need to be registered to appear on the November ballot 90 days before the election. This year, that day falls on Aug. 7.
But Biden isn’t set to be formally nominated by his party until the Aug. 19 Democratic National Convention—12 days after the deadline.
Now, state lawmakers are trying to find a way forward on the issue to ensure the presumptive Democratic nominee appears on the ballot—which will require either an act of the state legislature or that Democrats change the date of their convention.
But once passed and signed by the governor, Ohio bills typically take 90 days to become law unless they include an emergency clause.
Because of this, May 9 was the deadline, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.
LaRose wrote a letter to state Democrat officials in April warning that President Biden might not qualify for the general election ballot unless Democrats adjust their convention date or convince Republicans to change state law by May 9.
Ohio has one of the nation’s earliest deadlines for presidential candidates, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Most deadlines are in September or October, the organization’s chart of state ballot access laws shows.
Attorney Don McTigue sent a letter to LaRose’s office saying the Democratic Party would provisionally certify President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before the Aug. 7 deadline.
Biden has already gained enough delegates to receive the nomination, McTigue noted.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office responded that provisional approval is not permitted and that Mr. LaRose cannot change election deadlines.
Charles Lutvak, Biden’s campaign spokesperson, expressed confidence in a statement that the incumbent president will be on the ballot in all 50 states.
He noted how Alabama and Washington resolved the same deadline certification issue.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, told reporters that President Biden’s name will appear on the state’s general election ballot, likely in court.
Democrats could file a federal civil rights action against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, claiming that excluding President Biden from the ballot violates the Constitution’s First Amendment (free speech) and Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection under the law).
Ohio lawmakers next meet on May 22.
Upon return, they could pass legislation with an emergency clause to allow it to take effect immediately. This solution would require two-thirds support in the Ohio House and Senate.
—Jeff Louderback and Joseph Lord
