The article outlines a significant shift in U.S. attitudes towards China's economic rise. Initially, American elites were unconcerned while enjoying economic dominance, believing China's growth did not threaten the U.S. economy. However, recent tariffs imposed by Trump and continued under Biden have marked a more aggressive stance. Biden's administration, while moving away from neoliberalism, has implemented even harsher tariffs, particularly on green technologies, as a means of protecting American interests and industries. This underscores a profound transformation in U.S.-China economic relations over the past decade.
Over the last decade, all of this has unraveled. During his first term in the White House, Donald Trump introduced a series of tariffs on Chinese imports, which sparked retaliatory measures from China and growing talk of a 'trade war.'
If anything, Biden's China tariffs were more severe than those he inherited. In mid-2024, tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum were raised to 25 percent, on solar cells and panels to 50 percent, on electric vehicles to 100 percent; and in a parting gift to his successor, in January 2025, just as Biden was leaving office, a 50 percent tariff on Chinese semiconductors went into effect.
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