Tensions brewing with US over China's EV, solar panel exports

But Beijing unlikely to budge over Yellen’s protest of industrial overcapacity: Analysts

- Lim Min Zhang

On her current trip to China, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gained Chinese fans for dining in a public area, rather than in a private room, at a modest Sichuan cuisine restaurant in Beijing.

A video of her restaurant stop, where she ordered dishes such as mapo tofu, was widely viewed online.

That moment of cordiality, however, did not mask a renewed source of tension between the two major powers that was in a key message that Dr Yellen carried to top Chinese leaders China's industrial overcapacity, particularly in clean technology.

Beijing's manufacturing prowess in such technology, including electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels, has caused

increasing concern in Washington. The US has argued that a flood of cheap Chinese exports would hurt producers in other countries, including America itself.

The subject was among the top-priority issues Dr Yellen raised with Chinese leaders, including Premier Li Qiang and economic czar He Lifeng, during her six-day visit that started on April 4.

This was her second visit to the country in nine months, as US-China ties show signs of stabilising amid a series of official visits since mid-2023.

At a press conference in Beijing on April 8, Dr Yellen said US-China ties are now on a firmer footing than a year earlier in 2023, thanks to the efforts of President Joe Biden's administration to intensify diplomacy with China and "put a floor under the relationship".

She stressed, however, that China's excess capacity affects not just American jobs and firms, but is also a concern shared by the US' allies and partners, including emerging markets such as Mexico and India.