Biden hikes US tariffs on Chinese imports

New measures affect $18b in imported goods including steel, EVs and minerals

WASHINGTON:

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a bundle of steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products, risking an election-year standoff with Beijing in a bid to woo voters who give his economic policies low marks.

China immediately vowed retaliation. Its commerce ministry said Beijing was opposed to the US tariff hikes and would take measures to defend its interests.

Biden will keep tariffs put in place by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump while ratcheting up others, including a quadrupling of EV duties to over 100% and doubling the duties on semiconductor tariffs to 50%, the White House said in a statement.

The new measures affect $18 billion in imported Chinese goods including steel and aluminium, semiconductors, electric vehicles, critical minerals, solar cells and cranes, the White House said.

The announcement confirmed earlier Reuters reporting.

The United States imported $427 billion in goods from China in 2023 and exported $148 billion to the world’s No 2 economy, according to the US Census Bureau, a trade gap that has persisted for decades and become an ever more sensitive subject in Washington.

“It’s very clear that China has continued to engage in unfair practices, like forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, unfair subsidies,” Biden economic adviser Lael Brainard told Reuters.

“The president is taking action that is tough, but it’s also strategic. It’s focused on a few key sectors where China has built enormous over-capacity.”

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the revised tariffs were justified because China was stealing US intellectual property. But Tai recommended tariff exclusions, opens new tab for hundreds of industrial machinery import categories from China, including 19 for solar product manufacturing equipment.

Even as Biden’s steps fell in line with Trump’s premise that tougher trade measures are warranted, the Democrat took aim at his opponent in November’s election.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2024.

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