President Joe Biden is upping the ante in his trade war with China — and with former President Donald Trump.
Biden opposed Chinese tariffs during the 2020 election but is now not only matching but exceeding Trump’s tariffs on the world’s second-biggest economy.
“The president is taking important enforcement action to raise tariffs in key sectors under Section 301 of our trade laws that will make sure that historic investments in jobs spurred by President Biden’s actions are not undercut by a flood of unfairly underpriced exports from China,” National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said Monday.
The Biden administration has announced it will raise tariffs on certain Chinese steel and aluminum products from 7.25% to 25% this year, on electric vehicles from 25% to 100%, and on semiconductors from 25% to 50% next year.
“American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone — as long as they have fair competition,” reads a fact sheet announcing the changes. “But for too long, China’s government has used unfair, non-market practices.”
Those changes, the White House says, have led to Chinese firms controlling up to 90% of global production for some goods. The administration says the tariffs, in addition to legislation like the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Biden signed in 2021, will succeed where Trump’s tariffs did not.
“The previous administration’s phase one trade deal with China did not deliver on its promises to increase exports, to create manufacturing jobs here in America, or to end China’s unfair practices,” Brainard said.
On that point, team Biden may be treading a thin line as it argues its tariffs will boost American manufacturing while also downplaying Trump’s. This is especially perilous as Biden has mostly kept Trump’s existing tariffs in place after criticizing them on the 2020 campaign trail.
“In July of 2019, then-candidate Biden said that tariffs on China are abusive policy,” a reporter asked during Monday’s White House press briefing. “Has the president changed his mind and now believes tariffs work?”
In response, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration has always had concerns about China’s trade practices while also charging that the “last administration” did a trade deal with China that “failed to increase American exports or boost manufacturing.”
Trump’s campaign and his allies argue, however, that Biden is following the former president’s lead.
“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’s too little too late,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. “The forgotten men and women know President Trump is the only one who has been and will be tough on China.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley blasted Biden last month when the president hinted at new Chinese tariffs, saying, “Americans deserve leadership, not lip service — and it’s clear that we need President Trump back in office to deliver stronger trade deals that put America First.”
Biden and Trump are heavily focused on the manufacturing-heavy states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania in this fall’s presidential election, betting that industrial policy can win them favor.
China has made strides in the growing field of electric vehicles, offering a small electric vehicle that was praised by the Associated Press for as little as $10,000 brand new. But that vehicle would cost at least twice as much once Biden’s tariffs take effect.
The idea is to slow China’s march into the sector, allowing U.S.-based companies a chance to develop competing products.
Biden also says that China can sell its product at a loss due to heavy government subsidies, creating an unfair playing field for American firms. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has even called for an outright ban on Chinese EVs, citing data and privacy concerns.
Democratic strategist Brad Bannon praised the moves, saying they make sense from a practical and political standpoint.
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“It will certainly help the industrial midwest develop new technologies and new jobs, which is a very good thing,” he said. “And obviously, when we’re talking about Wisconsin, western Pennsylvania, and Michigan, we’re talking about battleground states. So it’s good policy and good politics.”
Some of the tariffs will hit other sectors, including medical equipment, which will see rates on syringes and needles rise from 0% to 50% this year, while face mask duties will jump from 7.5% to 25%. This change is due to some of the equipment hoarding that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and is intended to boost local manufacturing of those items.