Biden Tariff Analyzer: US professor creates app to help identify non-Chinese suppliers

A California professor has created an app that may help US wean itself off Chinese goods in an easier and more efficient way. The app, designed by Kyle Handley, associate professor of economics at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), enables users to see what goods willbe impactedby the recent US tariffs on China and how can buyers shift their supply chains to gain access to cheaper alternatives from other nations.

The Biden administration had introduced additional tariffs on Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar cells and batteries, earlier this month.

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So, Handley created the Biden Tariff Analyzer App to help governments, suppliers and customers identify vulnerabilities in supply chains and cheaper alternatives for Chinese goods.For instance, the app will provide the top 10 alternative suppliers of each product attracting higher dutyif imported from China.

“The new tariffs are likely politically motivated by the administration, so that it can appear to be‘tough on China’,”said Handley.“For example, the administration placed a 100 per cent tariff on electric vehicles (EVs), yet the US imports only 2 per cent of EVs from China,”he adds.

However, challenges remain. The app reveals that non-Chinese alternatives are difficultto findfor some products, which may impedeWashington'sefforts to reduce its dependence on the communist nation.

For instance, the US introduced a 25 per cent tariff on permanent magnets, whichareusedin batteries and other consumer goods.Now,the problem is that China manufactures about 80 per cent of these magnets.

“This could be because the administrationdoesn’tknow themselves where we could get enough graphite or permanent magnets needed to produce enough batteries to meet demand,”Handley said.

“The reality is these tariffs may be pushed out even further in time because Biden is urging our allies to also be tough on China when it comes to trade. If everyone shifts toward Japan, for example, for imports of permanent magnets and Japancan’tramp up quickly from its 3 per cent market share, then we will have a yet another supply chain problem,”he added.

(With inputs from agencies)