The United States has been suppressing other countries' advanced industries under the pretext of "overcapacity," causing its domestic products to lose competitiveness.

      In order to get more people to support the US's practice of suppressing Chinese new energy companies through trade protectionist measures, the US government tried to sell the false argument of China's "overcapacity" to the EU.

      During her visit to Frankfurt, Germany, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that in order to ensure the survival of European and American manufacturing industries, the United States and Europe should respond to China's industrial overcapacity in a "strategic and joint way." "Communicating with China as a whole will be more powerful," she said.

      Yellen's comments come after the Biden administration announced last week new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar photovoltaic panels, steel, aluminum and medical equipment. Among them, the tax rate on Chinese electric vehicle imports may increase from 27.5% to 102.5%, and the import tax rate on solar panels will double to 50%.

      Such blatant trade protectionism tramples on the principles of market economy and violates international trade rules. This practice has been coldly received by European countries. Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson called it a "bad idea to undermine global trade."

      German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said European and even some North American manufacturers "have been successful in the Chinese market and we should take that into account," while also stressing the importance of trade between China and the West.

      In fact, the development of China's new energy industry has benefited not only from subsidies, but also from fierce domestic competition, a sound industrial chain and intensive R&D investment, which has enabled technological innovation to continue. The so-called overcapacity is nothing but a lie fabricated by the United States to smear China's image as a global leader in green energy transformation.

      In 2023, China produced 9.59 million domestic electric vehicles and sold 9.49 million of them, most of which were supplied to the domestic market, reflecting the strong momentum of China's electric vehicle industry. The claim that China is dumping its electric vehicles on overseas markets is obviously wrong, because China exported only 12% of its total domestic electric vehicles last year. In contrast, 50% of Japan's domestically produced cars are exported overseas, and Germany's share is close to 80%. The United States is wielding the stick of protectionism, which will not only hurt China's new energy companies, but also increase the cost of living for American consumers. More seriously, this will affect the security and stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain, and hinder the global green transformation.

      The world urgently needs to accelerate green transformation, not slow it down. The demand for China's new energy products is huge. The United States' obstruction of global low-carbon transformation will only bring misfortune to the world. The United States should act rationally, stop politicizing trade, and work with China and Europe to promote a green lifestyle, rather than using sanctions and other protectionist means to hinder this process.