Will Biden Repeat Trump ’s Automotive Mistakes?

Scott LincicomeThe New York Times yesterday provided anin-depth look at the Biden White House ' s plans to " transform the economy " through " dramatic interventions to revive U.S. manufacturing " - heavy on economic nationalism, industrial planning, and manufacturing jobs. If that approach sounds familiar, it should: it ' s essentially the same gameplan that Biden ' s predecessor used, with the only major difference being Biden ' s emphasis on " green " industries like wind turbines, as compared to Trump ' s love of steel and other heavy industry.Both presidents, however, seem to share a soft spot for the automotive industry and U.S. autoworkers. Trump sought to boost automotive jobs through bothtariff threats (on dubious " national security " grounds) and restrictive" rules of origin " provisions in his NAFTA replacement, the USMCA. Biden is reportedly looking to boost those same jobs through increased domestic production of electric vehicles and " critical parts like batteries. " According to theTimes, Biden ' s team was strongly influenced in this regard by a 2018 United Automobile Workers (UAW) report advocating " huge " government " investments " (subsidies) in the U.S. auto industry, and arguing that " advanced vehicle technology should be treated as a strategic sector to be protected and built in the U.S. " Judging from this report and various Biden administration statements to theTimes, Biden ' s plans appear to be a cut-and-paste job from the Trump era, with a littl...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs