WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced new tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles as he attempts to protect a key promise for American workers.
The tariffs will target solar cells, steel, aluminum, semiconductors, advanced batteries, critical minerals, solar and medical products.
“China heavily subsidized all these products, pushing Chinese companies to produce far more than the rest of the world can absorb and then dumping excess products onto the market at unfairly low prices, driving other manufacturers around the world out of business,” Biden said at the White House.
The move comes as Biden looks to seperate himself from President Donald Trump, his 2024 opponent, when it comes to China. Trump imposed some $300 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods during his administration.
Before going into the courtroom for his hush money trial, Trump commented that Biden “should have done it a long time ago.”
“But they also have to do it on other vehicles, and they need to do it on a lot of other products because China is eating our lunch right now,” Trump said. “And they went away from what I was doing. They’re eating our lunch.”
At the White House, Biden attempted to place blame on Trump.
“He signed a trade deal with China,” he said. “They were supposed to buy $200 billion more in American goods. Instead, China’s imports from America barely budged. And now Trump and his MAGA Republicans want across the board tariffs on all imports from all countries if reelected. Well, that would drive up costs for families on an average of $1,500 per year each year. He simply doesn’t get it.”
Administration officials downplayed the possible impact the actions will have on inflation or consumer costs in a call with reporters.
“I think what Americans can expect is that the investment boom that is undergoing, that is fueling record levels of jobs in manufacturing and factory construction, will continue,” a senior administration official said. “I think there is a comeback that we’re seeing across communities that had long cycles of disinvestment. These tariffs will protect and safeguard those gains.”
