President Biden increases US tariffs on an array of Chinese imports

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a bundle of steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports including electric vehicles, 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 China was opposed to the US tariff hikes and would take measures to defend its interests, urging the United States to cancel the measures.

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 percent, the White House said in a statement. It cited "unacceptable risks" to US economic security posed by what it considers unfair Chinese practices that are flooding global markets with cheap goods.

The new measures affect $18 billion in Chinese imported goods including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, batteries, 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.

"China's using the same playbook it has before to power its own growth at the expense of others by continuing to invest, despite excess Chinese capacity and flooding global markets with exports that are underpriced due to unfair practices," White House National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard told reporters on a conference call.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the revised tariffs were justified because China was continuing to steal US intellectual property and in some cases had become "more aggressive" in cyber intrusions targeting American technology.

She said prior "Section 301" tariffs had minimal impact on US economy-wide prices and employment, but had been effective in reducing US imports of Chinese goods, while increasing imports from other countries.

But Tai recommended tariff exclusions for dozens of industrial machinery import categories from China, including 19 for solar product manufacturing equipment.

Reuters