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Originally Posted by milomilo
Canada is the laggard unfortunately.
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Indeed. Which is why those tarrifs are going to get really interesting. The Europeans are willing to go toe to toe with the US. We're definitely no leverage small fry on this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by milomilo
... so all European tariffs will likely achieve is make things more expensive for Europeans.
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And? So do carbon taxes. But there's no way to avoid job losses and carbon leakage to countries that are willing to ignore cutting emissions. It's particularly hard to sell one's own public on carbon taxes too, as they watch jobs shipped to China. So what better excuse is there than to slap tariffs on Chinese imports. The Europeans aren't exactly hiding intent here. They are clear on what they are targeting, including a repatriation of some industry and jobs from Asia.
I'm down for the same too. I absolutely detest the whatboutism of the "But China..." brigade. They are, however, right on the broader point about carbon leakage. Global trade shouldn't be given a pass on externalities, while domestic producers are facing taxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by milomilo
By the time the world actually gets on board with this sort of stuff, we'll both have caused more damage to the climate than we should have, but the technology to carry on will be available. It's like the problem of horse shit piling up in cities - humans never solved that problem through policy, because horses were too valuable. They just happened to invent a better horse that doesn't poop.
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Maybe. But that doesn't mean that just because they hadn't found the solution, that they applied no controls at all. Also, carbon, unlike horseshit will be biting us in the collective behind for decades if not centuries. So every little bit does help. Even if they environmental return isn't exactly direct.
All that said, I go back to what I said earlier. Before we get wrapped up in all this faux concern over what the Chinese doing, can we at least do the basic shit that is in our own best interest? See my example above. We can't even get developers to put an appropriate plug in the garage for EVs we know are coming (and have mandated by law). But we're worried about what China will do two decades from now?