ADDIS ABABA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- New U.S. tariff hikes on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) will have a far-reaching impact on the global climate agenda, an Ethiopian expert has said.
The latest move by the U.S. administration targeting Chinese clean energy products is "more of a political move" amid the increasing competitiveness of China's new energy industry, Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, a professor of public policy at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, told Xinhua.
"It (the move by the U.S.) is going to hurt the climate agenda very seriously," Costantinos said.
Noting the current global climate crisis and the crucial need to promote cooperation in the fight against climate change, the scholar said that the U.S. protectionist stance would potentially derail recent positive strides in the global consensus to green energy transition.
Commending China's recent advancements in clean energy sources, Costantinos underscored the positive implications of China's technological innovations and advancements to the global push towards de-carbonization.
"This (China's advancements) is going to be a game-changer in terms of climate change," he said.
Meanwhile, the expert stressed that China's industrial advantages in EV production make it possible to deliver EVs at an affordable price globally.
"I have had an opportunity to witness firsthand the Chinese-made electric vehicles here in Addis Ababa. I have seen BYD and others ... very elegant and well-functioning cars," he said.
However, anything related to China is now viewed by the United States as competition, said Costantinos, adding that the U.S. perspective is driven more by political motives than by concerns about the welfare of American consumers.
The new U.S. tariff hikes on Chinese clean energy goods will have a negative implication on the United States itself, said the scholar, urging the United States to reconsider its move.
"Even U.S. think tanks have been writing that this protection is not going to help the United States in any way," he said. ■
