Biden to uphold Trump’s policy, raise tariffs on many Chinese imports

President Joe Biden is set to increase tariffs on multiple Chinese imports, including electric vehicles, battery components, semiconductors, microchips, and steel and aluminum.

The tariff rates will hit electric vehicles, solar components, and semiconductors from China the hardest with an increase from 25% to 50%, while tariffs on other sectors will increase to 25%, USA Today reported. The new tariffs on China, which will be announced by Biden at the White House on Tuesday, will be implemented over the next two years and are estimated to affect around $18 billion in Chinese imports. During his speech, Biden will also officially endorse keeping tariffs implemented by former President Donald Trump on more than $300 billion of Chinese goods, The New York Times reported.

Biden’s increase in tariffs on China comes after the president spent months campaigning against former President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the communist country. The then-Democratic presidential candidate blasted Trump multiple times in 2019 for his tariffs on Chinese imports, calling Trump’s policies “senseless” and arguing that, in the end, Americans would end up “foot[ing] the bill.”

“Mexico isn’t paying for the wall. American military families are. China isn’t paying for the tariffs. American farmers and manufacturers are,” Biden tweeted in September 2019. “The American people continue to foot the bill for President Trump’s senseless political games.”

A senior Biden administration official defended the president’s new tariffs on China, saying the world needs “diversified, not concentrated, production of our most critical goods and technologies.”

“China can’t be the only country that produces clean technology for the world we need,” a senior administration official said. “We need diversified, not concentrated, production of our most critical goods and technologies,” the official said, according to CNN, adding, “That’s the kind of dynamic we think will produce resilient supply chains and clean technology.”

The Biden administration’s increase in tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles will hit as the federal government continues to invest heavily in EVs and green energy. Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said that Biden’s move especially hopes to aid “communities in Michigan and Pennsylvania,” two 2024 battleground states that could help decide the winner of the presidential election.

“We know China’s unfair practices have harmed communities in Michigan and Pennsylvania and around the country that are now having the opportunity to come back due to President Biden’s investment agenda,” said Brainard.

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Earlier this year, Trump proposed increasing tariffs on China across the board to more than 60%. The former president also denied that he had started a “trade war” with China during his one term in the White House.

“It’s not a trade war. I did great with China with everything,” he said in February. “I want China to do great, I do. And I like President Xi a lot. He was a very good friend of mine during my term.”