Since Donald Trump announced his plans to sweep tariffs last week, vibrations have been, in a word, chaotic. Markets have seen one of the fastest falls in the last century, and it is widely expected that global economic order can be changed forever.
While many try not to look at the effects on their savings and retirement accounts, experts are struggling to understand what these tariffs could mean for various industries. As my colleague James Temple wrote in a new story last week, anxieties are especially high in climatic technology.
These rates could be particularly difficult for the battery industry. China dominates the entire supply chain and is subject to monster rates, and even US battery manufacturers will not escape the effects.
First, in case you need it, an Super Cick update: Tariffs are taxes charged by imported goods (in this case, in the USA.). If I am an American company that sells bracelets, and I usually buy my accounts and a rope from another country, now I will pay the United States government an additional percentage of what these goods cost to import. According to Trump’s plan, that could be 10%, 20%or more than 50%, depending on the country to send them to me.
In theory, tariffs should help national producers, since competitors outside the country become more expensive. But since many of the products we use have supply chains that extend throughout the world, even the products manufactured in the US.
In the case of batteries, we could be talking about really high rates, because most batteries and their components are currently coming from China. From 2023, the country won more than 75% of the world’s lithium -ion battery cells, according to Data from the International Energy Agency.
Trump’s new plan adds a 34% rate over all Chinese products, and that accumulates in addition to a 20% tariff that was already in place, which makes the total 54%. (Then, until Wednesday, the White House further increased the rate on China, which makes the total 104%).
But when it comes to batteries, that is not even the whole story. There was already a 3.5% rate In all lithium -ion batteries, for example, as well as a 7.5% tariff on China’s batteries that will increase to 25% next year.
