President Biden on Wednesday threatened to impose significant tariffs on some steel and aluminum products from China to members of the National Steelworkers of Pittsburgh union, which is vying with former President Donald J. Trump for votes in the northern industrial state. I asked for a raise.
“These are strategic and targeted actions to protect American workers and ensure fair competition,” Biden told an audience of about 100 members of the United Steelworkers union, which supported him last month. ” he said. “Meanwhile, my predecessor and MAGA Republicans want to impose a flat tariff on all imports from all countries that could seriously harm American consumers.”
The Biden administration argues that massive low-cost exports from China are undermining American-made products, jeopardizing the push to expand U.S. manufacturing that is central to Biden's economic policy.
In his speech, Biden announced that White House officials would increase tariffs on certain Chinese products, currently subject to 7.5% tariffs, to 25%, or impose no tariffs at all. He said he would make a request to Thailand's trade representative. The result of the government's review of tariffs on China originally imposed under the Trump administration.
“I want fair competition, not conflict with China,” Biden said as he looked past supporters and signs that read “President Joe Biden: Standing with Workers.” “And as we invest again in America and America's workers, we are in even more intense competition to win the 21st century economic competition with China and other countries.”
The move is another effort by Biden to erect new barriers to trade with China in some industries. Administration officials said the election was not a motivating factor for the move, but it could help compete with Trump in a “hard on China” context against floating voters.
A day earlier, Mr. Biden spoke in Scranton, kicking off a three-day tour of the key battleground state of Pennsylvania in which he focused on the tax code, but repeatedly attacked Mr. Trump and said he was more concerned about workers than workers. also accused him of giving preferential treatment to billionaires. class.
But Biden's plan for China trade is more targeted than Trump's. The former president has called for across-the-board and significant new tariffs on imports from China and elsewhere, an effort that could sever trade lines between the two countries. The Biden administration is reviewing existing tariffs and is expected to propose raising tariffs on some Chinese products and lowering others.
When Biden stopped for breakfast on his way from Scranton to Pittsburgh, reporters asked him if he was worried about the trade war with China. “There is no trade war,” he replied.
Before Biden's remarks, Tai announced that his office had launched an investigation into China's aggressive support for shipbuilding and other related industries following a labor union complaint.
“The U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry is no longer what it once was,” the union said in a filing with the Office of the Trade Representative. It added: “The biggest obstacle to the industry's recovery is the unfair trade practices of China, the world's largest shipbuilding nation.”
In the complaint, the unions cite “hundreds of billions of dollars” in aid from the Chinese government to the shipbuilding industry. These include supplying steel from state-owned enterprises at below-market rates and various efforts to induce low-cost loans and other financing from state-owned enterprises to shipyards. Tai called the allegations “serious and concerning.”
These moves threaten to deepen trade tensions with the Chinese government. Beijing has criticized Mr. Biden's efforts to push for subsidies for U.S. manufacturing, including tax credits from the Inflation Control Act to boost production of solar panels, electric cars and other technologies. Reduce fossil fuel emissions.
In a statement, China's Ministry of Commerce harshly criticized the investigation, saying it was “full of numerous false accusations, misinterpreting normal trade and investment activities as undermining U.S. national security and business interests, and They are blaming China for industrial problems.”
In his speech, Biden also reiterated his support for steel unions in the dispute over the proposed sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel.
Nippon Paper officials vowed to invest billions of dollars in U.S. manufacturing facilities, keep U.S. Steel's headquarters in Pittsburgh and honor existing labor contracts. But the attempted takeover has drawn condemnation from labor unions and a bipartisan group of senators, mostly from developed countries, who say it could undermine national security.
Biden has signaled he opposes the deal, and his administration is scrutinizing it for national security and antitrust reasons. He has repeatedly said he would side with steelworkers in the dispute over the sale, but administration officials have not made clear exactly what that means policy-wise. In Pittsburgh, the president appeared to promise employees that he would not allow the company to leave the United States, a move that no one is currently discussing.
When Biden met with steel workers before his speech, one woman told him, “Let's keep U.S. Steel in America.”
To cheers and applause, the president replied, “I guarantee it.”
David McCall, president of the International Steelworkers Union, praised Biden before the speech.
“President Biden has promised USW members that he will support us,” McCall said. “And it's clear that he does.”
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump are competing for working-class votes in industrial battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Earlier, the Biden campaign released an ad featuring a steel worker touting Biden's economic record and attacking Trump.
A lawsuit over Trump's falsification of business records begins this week in Manhattan, the first of four criminal cases in which he will go to trial. Biden typically refrains from commenting directly on the trial. But his Pennsylvania visit is intended to provide voters with a contrast to Trump's legal troubles.
In a speech in Pittsburgh, Mr. Biden gave a veiled criticism of Mr. Trump, calling him “my predecessor who is busy right now.”
Former President Trump is not actually required to be in court Wednesday, but the audience seemed to understand the joke about his whereabouts and drew laughs.
alexandra stevenson Contributed to the report.