The key part is at the end:
Why not just buy cheap Chinese batteries? Political economy. Given the existential threat posed by climate change, the political coalition behind the green energy transition shouldn’t be fragile, but it is. The Biden administration was able to get large subsidies for renewable energy only by tying those subsidies to the creation of domestic manufacturing jobs. If those subsidies are seen as creating jobs in China instead, our last, best hope of avoiding climate catastrophe will be lost — a consideration that easily outweighs all the usual arguments against tariffs.
So in imposing these new tariffs, Biden’s people are doing what they must. I don’t see any alternative.
To some degree, shouldn’t we consider how China manufactures these things before we say they’re beneficial to the environment?
I don’t know the everything about all this, just posing a question, perhaps we shouldn’t focus on the cheapest option every time.