WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden On Tuesday, his administration will announce $18 billion in tariff increases Chinese exportsincluding electric vehiclesThe White House is trying to fight unfair trade practices by its global rival.
The US move escalates what some economists see as a volatile trade war with China as the world’s two largest economies vie for supremacy.
The White House said the tariff rate for electric vehicles will quadruple this year, from 25% to 100%. The cars are sold by China’s leading EV manufacturer, BYD Up to $10,000.
“China is now using the same playbook it had before to invest despite China’s capacity and fuel its own growth at the expense of others by flooding global markets with low-value exports,” White House National Economist Lael Brainard said in a call with reporters. “China is too big to play by its own rules.”
It is in China denied the overcapacity charge calls it “unfounded” and accuses the United States of trying to prevent global competition.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Beijing “constantly opposes unilateral tariff increases” that violate World Trade Organization rules.
China will “take all necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests,” Chinese spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular press briefing in Beijing before the tariffs were announced.
China’s Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Tuesday.
The Biden administration signaled weekly action. Biden called China tripled tariffs on steel and aluminum last month.
The White House announced the following rate increases on Tuesday:
Some steel and aluminum products will increase from 0-7.5% to 25% this year, while battery parts will increase from 7.5% to 25%.
Lithium-ion EV batteries will increase from 7.5% to 25% this year, while lithium-ion non-EV batteries will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2026.
Some other critical minerals will increase from zero to 25% this year.
Solar cells will increase from 25% to 50% this year.
This year, syringes and needles will be reduced from zero to 50%.
The number of some personal protective equipment, including some respirators and masks, will increase from 0-7.5% to 25% this year.
By 2025, semiconductors will increase from 25% to 50%.
Natural graphite and permanent magnets will grow from zero to 25% in 2026.
Rubber medical and surgical gloves will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2026.
While critics have argued that rising tariffs often backfire and drive up consumer prices and inflation, the administration has insisted that’s not the case here.
“These actions have no inflationary impact,” a senior administration official told reporters on a call. “They are mainly targeting strategic sectors where we are increasing domestic investment.”
The official argued that a 10% overall tariff would pose more risks to consumers. Former president Donald Trumpthe presumptive Republican nominee, suggested a 10% tariff on all imports.
Another senior administration official said on the call: “The previous administration’s restrictive efforts were not coupled with positive incentives for companies to invest in strategic sectors. This did not include diplomatic efforts to get like-minded countries playing by the same rules to join us in opposing China’s trade practices. So it’s a very different strategy where tariffs are not a stand-alone strategy.”
The Trump campaign criticized Biden’s planned tariff hike.
“After spending much of his presidency fighting to overturn President Trump’s trade policies, Biden’s failure to protect American manufacturers is coming back to haunt his administration, and hard-working Americans know that there are too few,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt. in an email statement. “The forgotten men and women know that President Trump has been and will be tough on China.”
The Biden administration is walking a difficult line: it wants to both lower the cost of clean energy in the United States and protect American manufacturing at the same time.
“The Biden administration has two competing goals,” said Alex Durante, an economist at the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. “Tariffs are generally bad economic policy. I think that the management should stay away from them.”