Biden's decision this past week to codify and escalate tariffs imposed by Trump made clear that the United States has closed out a decades-long era that embraced trade with China and prized the gains of lower-cost products over the loss of geographically concentrated manufacturing jobs. A single tariff rate embodies that closure: a 100% tax on Chinese electric vehicles, which start at less than $10,000 each and have surged into showrooms around the world but have struggled to crack government barriers to the U.S. market.
