Biden advances with tariff increases for several Chinese products

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will announce on Tuesday that his government is increasing tariffs on $18 billion in Chinese exportsIncluding Electric vehiclesas the White House tries to combat what it considers to be unfair trade practices by its global competitor.

The U.S. move worsens what some economists see as a volatile trade war with China as the world’s two biggest economies battle for supremacy.

The White House said the fee for electric vehicles will quadruple, from 25% to 100% this year. China’s top EV maker, BYD, sells the cars for as low as $10,000.

“China is using the same playbook it used before to drive its own growth at the expense of others, continuing to invest despite Chinese overcapacity and flooding global markets with exports that are undervalued due to unfair practices,” Lael Brainard , national economic officer at the White House. advisor, said on a call with reporters. “China is simply too big to follow its own rules.”

China has denied the charge of excess capacity as “unfounded” and accuses the US of trying to prevent global competition.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Beijing “consistently opposes unilateral tariff increases” that violate World Trade Organization rules.

China “will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference in Beijing before the tariffs were announced.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Tuesday.

The Biden administration has signaled the change for weeks. Biden asked tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum last month.

The White House specified the following tariff increases on Tuesday:

Certain steel and aluminum products will increase from 0–7.5% to 25% this year, and battery parts will increase from 7.5% to 25%.

Lithium-ion EV batteries will jump from 7.5% to 25% this year, while non-EV lithium-ion batteries will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2026.

Certain other critical minerals will increase from zero to 25% this year.

Solar cells will increase from 25% to 50% this year.

Syringes and needles will go from zero to 50% this year.

Certain personal protective equipment, including certain respirators and masks, will increase from 0–7.5% to 25% this year.

Semiconductors will increase from 25% to 50% by 2025.

Natural graphite and permanent magnets will increase from zero to 25% in 2026.

Rubber medical and surgical gloves will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2026.

While critics argue that raising tariffs often backfire and raise consumer prices and inflation, the administration insisted that was not the case here.

“There is no inflationary impact from these actions,” a senior administration official said on the call with reporters. “They mainly target strategic sectors where we are accumulating inward investment.”

The official argued that a generalized tariff of 10% would represent a greater risk for consumers. Former president donald trumpthe presumptive Republican candidate, presented the idea of ​​a 10% tariff on all imports.

Another senior administration official said on the call: “The previous administration’s restrictive efforts were not accompanied by affirmative incentives for companies to make investments in strategic sectors. It did not include a diplomatic effort to get like-minded countries that play by the same rules to join us in confronting China’s trade practices. And so this is a very different strategy, where tariffs are not an isolated strategy.”

Trump’s campaign criticized Biden’s planned tariff increase.

“After spending much of his presidency fighting to undo President Trump’s trade policies, Biden’s failure to protect American manufacturers is coming back to haunt his administration and hard-working Americans know it is too late,” said Karoline Leavitt, Port -Trump campaign spokesperson. in an emailed statement. “The forgotten men and women know that President Trump is the only one who has been and will be tough on China.”

The Biden administration is taking a difficult path: it wants to reduce the cost of clean energy in the US while protecting American production.

“The Biden administration has two competing goals,” said Alex Durante, an economist at the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. “Tariffs, in general, are bad economic policy. I think the government should stay away from them.”

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with