With countries like the United States and Canada increasing their tariffs on imports from China related to clean energy, the country has been looking for ways to avoid said tariffs.
For some background, Canada just recently raised its tariffs on Chinese imports in a series of protectionist moves, with the aim of bolstering domestic economies and cutting down on foreign imports. The largest tariff is on electric vehicles, at 100 percent while steel and aluminum are being tariffed at 25 percent. Other products being considered for tariffs are solar products, batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals.
The United States has also placed tariffs on Chinese imports, specifically a 100 percent tariff on electric vehicles, a 50 percent tariff on solar panels and a 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, lithium batteries and critical minerals. Europe, not wanting to be the dumping ground for China’s oversupply of EVs, also voted to enact tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese-produced EVs, with that rate varying depending on the level of cooperation companies had with the EU anti-subsidy investigation.
For those looking to take advantage of renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems, these new tariffs can have a significant impact on their cost.
Another effect the threat of tariffs have been having, according to Climate Energy Finance, is that China has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion into foreign clean technology projects in the past two years.
China is by far the world’s largest producer and exporter of clean energy products like lithium batteries and solar panels (responsible for nearly 25 percent of the world’s lithium batteries and almost 80 percent of the world’s solar panels).
It’s estimated that by 2030, up to two-thirds of China’s clean technology capacity would be surplus to its own domestic requirements, which means that it would need to export at massive levels.
However, as some of the world’s leading economies are placing higher tariffs on Chinese imports, it appears as though China may not be able to export all of its surplus. Due to this, China is now investing heavily in foreign clean energy projects in an attempt to circumvent these trade barriers and high tariffs.
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