US President Joe Biden has directed his Trade Representative to increase tariffs on USD 18 billion of imports from China, including semiconductors, solar cells, batteries, and critical minerals, to ‘protect’ American workers and businesses, the White House said on Tuesday.
China’s Ministry of Commerce, in a reply to the US’s move, stated, “This will seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation. The United States should immediately correct its wrongdoing and cancel the additional tariffs imposed on China. China will take resolute measures to defend its rights and interests.”
The White House announcement on Tuesday came at the conclusion of a statutory review of tariffs, which occurs every four years.
It further stated that the decision has come in response to China’s ‘unfair trade practices‘ and to counteract the resulting harms, VOA reported.
“China’s unfair trade practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are threatening American businesses and workers. China is also flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports. In response to China’s unfair trade practices and to counteract the resulting harms, today, President Biden is directing his Trade Representative to increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on USD 18 billion of imports from China to protect American workers and businesses,” the White House statement read.The statement on hiked tariffs on imports from China also noted that the Chinese government has used unfair and non-market practices for too long now.Moreover, US President Biden accused the Chinese government of “cheating” when it competes with other nations in international trade, reported VOA.
“For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies across a whole range of industries: steel and aluminium, semiconductors, electric vehicles, solar panels – the industries of the future–and even critical health equipment, like gloves and masks,” he said.
“China heavily subsidised all these products, pushing Chinese companies to produce far more than the rest of the world can absorb,” Biden said. “And then dumping the excess products onto the market at unfairly low prices, driving other manufacturers around the world out of business.”
Additionally, Biden said that the existing tariffs, many of which were put in place during the administration of former President Donald Trump, would remain in place and that the additional tariffs would target specific products and industries, as reported by VOA.
Moreover, along with the 100 per cent tariff on electric vehicles, the administration is also planning new levies on electric vehicle batteries, certain kinds of semiconductors, solar cells, and equipment used in the health care industry, including face masks, medical gloves, syringes and needles.