US to impose 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles

The move marks the Biden administration’s latest effort to protect the domestic industry from competition.

The Biden administration plans to increase tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles from 25% to 100% as it steps up efforts ahead of the US election to protect American industry.

The government is expected to announce the change and other tariffs on clean energy imports on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the situation.

The sharp rate hike comes amid growing concern that China could flood the U.S. market with cheap electric vehicles, threatening the U.S. auto industry. President Joe Biden has taken several steps in recent months to convince union leaders in swing states that he will protect jobs.

The Biden administration has been reviewing the tariffs that then-President Donald Trump imposed on imports from China as part of the trade war he launched in 2018 for three years. The new EV tariffs will be announced alongside the conclusion of the U.S.-led review. Trade Representative.

During a visit last month to Pennsylvania — a swing state in the November election — Biden said he wanted the agency to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. The USTR also recently opened an investigation into unfair practices in the Chinese shipbuilding industry, following a petition from the United Steelworkers union.

But the decision to increase tariffs on EVs comes at a time when the administration is particularly concerned that China is making great strides in the green industrial sector, including the production of solar panels.

“The Biden administration is trying to stay ahead of the curve and ensure that the U.S. auto industry does not suffer the same fate as the U.S. solar industry, which has been virtually decimated by unfairly traded Chinese imports,” said Wendy Cutler, a former trade official . and vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Cutler said Chinese automakers were prepared to swallow the cost of existing tariffs in an effort to “cripple” their North American competitors, but higher tariffs would make that much more difficult.

“However, a quadrupling of this tariff rate would more effectively protect U.S. automakers against unfairly traded Chinese vehicles before they can gain a foothold in the U.S. market,” Cutler said.

The Biden administration has invested billions of dollars in subsidies for the production of electric vehicles and batteries in the US – an effort to stimulate investment in a domestic clean technology sector as part of a strategy to reindustrialize the rust belt, reduce emissions carbon emissions and break dependence on China. supply networks.

In February, Biden also ordered an investigation into whether Chinese “connected vehicles” — a growing category of Internet-connected vehicles that includes EVs — posed a risk to U.S. national security.

The tariffs are the latest administration action that shows how Biden continues to impose costs on China even as Beijing and Washington continue efforts to stabilize relations following a summit between the US president and Chinese President Xi Jinping in last year.

News of the tariff increase comes after the US and China, the world’s two biggest emitters, said this week that they would “step up” cooperation on climate-related issues, including the implementation of green energy.

Report from Financial Times.