President Biden is looking for ways to protect the emerging U.S. clean energy sector from a surge in cheap Chinese imports, and the Biden administration is expected to impose new restrictions on Chinese-made electric vehicles and other products as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. The company plans to announce tariffs. .
The move could undermine Biden's efforts to boost domestic manufacturing of clean energy products by China, which is flooding global markets with products such as cheap solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. The move was carried out amid growing concerns within the administration that the move may be inappropriate.
The long-awaited tariffs are the result of a four-year review of tariffs that former President Donald J. Trump imposed on more than $300 billion of Chinese imports in 2018. Most of the Trump tariffs are expected to remain in place, but Biden plans to go beyond them by raising levies on areas where the president funneled subsidies in the 2022 Inflation Control Act. .
This includes electric vehicles from China, which currently face a 25% tariff. The government is expected to further increase this tax rate to make purchasing EVs in China prohibitively expensive. The administration is considering tariffs of up to 100%, according to people familiar with the deliberations.
Earlier this year, Biden took steps to block internet-connected Chinese cars and trucks, including electric vehicles, from entering the U.S. auto market, saying their operating systems could transmit sensitive information to the Chinese government. He said it posed a risk to national security because of its nature.
The president has said he wants to increase pressure on China and show he will protect U.S. manufacturing ahead of a showdown with Trump in the November presidential election.
Since Biden took office, the fate of tariffs on China has been the subject of intense debate within the White House, with economic and political advisers often clashing over how to proceed. However, China's move this year to expand production of the same products – electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar panels that the Biden administration has invested billions of dollars to start producing in the US – has led to trade-offs between the two countries. Friction is reignited. For this reason, Mr. Biden needs to move forward with more aggressive trade restrictions.
Trump has said he would escalate the trade war with China if re-elected, saying earlier this year that he was considering imposing tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese imports.
It's unclear how much tariffs the Biden administration is expected to apply to Chinese electric vehicles, batteries and solar products. The planned publication of the review, which is being conducted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, was previously reported by Bloomberg News.
keith bradshireContributed to the report.
