General Electric

The REAL Reason the US Is Betting on Tariffs

Jan 8, 2025 · 11:10

Host Phil Andrews argues the US has been in a trade war with China since the 2000s and that tariffs—not the WTO—are America's remaining defense against dumping, forced technology transfer, and IP theft. After China joined the WTO in 2001, the US could no longer unilaterally set tariffs, and years-long WTO disputes let Chinese solar firms bankrupt the US solar industry. The Trump administration blocked WTO judges until the court fell to two members by 2019, and the Biden administration extended most Trump tariffs. The episode covers China's hacks of Westinghouse blueprints and the F-35 plans, and the 1964 chicken tax that pushed Toyota, Honda, and Nissan into US truck plants. Andrews argues tariffs don't cause inflation and that 5 million manufacturing jobs left the US between 2000 and 2010.

Train Manufacturers Are About to Make A Ton of Money

Jul 12, 2024 · 9:39

California's 2030 ban on locomotives over 23 years old and its 2035 zero-emission mandate will force railroads to replace 15,000 engines at $7.5 million apiece — a $112 billion windfall Wabtec, the market leader since buying GE's railroad division in 2018, is best positioned to capture. Rival Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, sued Wabtec as a monopoly in 2023 as both race to build replacement technologies. Battery locomotives are capped at 800 miles per charge and cost up to $10 million, while hydrogen trains, proven in Germany, aren't expected at freight scale for 5 to 10 years. California's Clean Air Act exemption lets it set national emissions standards, and one locomotive's batteries equal 120 Tesla Model 3s, straining grids and tight copper and lithium supply chains.