Biden Increases Tariffs On EV Imports From China

WASHINGTON, DC (ANI) – President Joe Biden has directed his Trade Representative to increase tariffs on $18 billion of imports from China, including semiconductors, solar cells, batteries, and critical minerals to ‘protect’ American workers and businesses, the White House said in a statement on May 14.

The White House said that the decision has come in response to China’s ‘unfair trade practices’ and to counteract the resulting harms.

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.

“China’s forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft have contributed to its control of 70, 80, and even 90 percent of global production for the critical inputs necessary for our technologies, infrastructure, energy, and health care–creating unacceptable risks to America’s supply chains and economic security,” the White House said.

“Furthermore, these same non-market policies and practices contribute to China’s growing overcapacity and export surges that threaten to significantly harm American workers, businesses, and communities,” it added.

The US and the European Union have often expressed their concern over “industrial overcapacity” in China that is impacting their domestic companies.

In a meeting between Xi Jinping and President Emmanuel Macron of France, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, urged the visiting Chinese President to address “the wave of subsidized exports flowing from his nation’s factories into Western countries,” NYT reported.

“These subsidized products — such as electric vehicles or, for example, steel — are flooding the European market,” von der Leyen said. “The world cannot absorb China’s surplus production,” von der Leyen was cited in the US daily.