Three strikes against Biden EV tariffs

Over at the syndicate InsideSources, I have an op-ed explaining three problems with President Biden’s new tariffs on $18 billion worth of EVs, solar panels, and, and other Chinese-made goods:

First, tariffs will make cars and energy less affordable during a time of high inflation. They cause economic pain that piles on top of inflation. Monetary inflation has raised prices by more than 20 percent since the Fed went on its pandemic money-printing spree. Biden’s new China tariffs will keep vehicle prices high and raise energy prices on top of the damage that inflation is already doing to people’s pocketbooks.

Second, tariffs also go against the Biden administration’s policy of expanding green technologies, like getting more people to switch to EVs and solar panels. When the price of something goes up, people buy less of it. Economists call this the law of demand. Everyone else calls it common sense…

The third big problem with Biden’s tariffs is the damage they will cause to America’s economy for years to come, regardless of which party is in power. Inertia might be the strongest force in politics. Once a policy is in place, it can take decades to undo it, even after large majorities agree that it has backfired.

Read the whole thing here. Reason’s Eric Boehm quotes me in his article on the tariffs. Marlo Lewis and I also issued a statement.