Biden Imposes Tariffs on China to Protect American Workers
It's pay back time. It seems that the Biden Administration is getting what is due to America from China and it has been a long time coming.
By Mona Austin
(TSN): New tariffs against the PRC were announced by the Biden Administration today. Pres. Joe Biden wants to keep a strong trade relationship with China but is expecting fairness in pricing practices that lagged over subsidies. In response to China’s unfair trade practices and to counteract the resulting harms, today, President Biden is directing his Trade Representative to increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on $18 billion of imports from China to protect American workers and businesses.
In turn the U.S. can build a more resilient supply chain by requiring that they pay more. The effort fosters competitiveness for American workers.
In the Rose Garden address this afternoon, Pres. Biden said:
'The fact is that American workers are -- can outwork and outcompete anyone, as long as the competition is fair. But for too long, it hasn’t been fair."
"For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies across a whole range of industries: steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, solar panels -- the industries of the future -- and even critical health equipment, like gloves and masks.
China heavily subsidized all these products, pushing Chinese companies to produce far more than the rest of the world can absorb. And then dumping the excess products onto the market at unfairly low prices, driving other manufacturers around the world out of business. "
China continues to be aggressive with forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft. This has allowed the PRC to control a significant portion of global production for critical inputs needed in technologies, infrastructure, energy, and healthcare.
Biden has created over 800,000 manufacturing jobs to keep work stateside and build a dependence on American goods and services that can strengthen trade and produce economic security for the nation.
These new tariff actions are in concert with the findings in a 4-Year review on tariff actions by trade Rep. Katerine Tai received approximately 1,500 written submissions. Tai said in a statement:
“After thorough review of the statutory report on Section 301 tariffs, and having considered my advice, President Biden is directing me to take further action to encourage the elimination of the People’s Republic of China’s unfair technology transfer-related policies and practices that continue to burden U.S. commerce and harm American workers and businesses,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai.
“As the President recognizes in his memorandum, while the tariffs have been effective in encouraging the PRC to take some steps to address the issues identified in the Section 301 investigation, further action is required.
“In light of President Biden’s direction, I will be proposing modifications to the China tariffs under Section 301 to confront the PRC’s unfair policies and practices. From the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, I have been committed to using every lever of my office to promote American jobs and investments, and these recommendations are no different. Today, we serve our statutory goal to stop the PRC’s harmful technology transfer-related acts, policies, and practices, including its cyber intrusions and cyber theft. I take this charge seriously, and I will continue to work with my partners across sectors to ensure any action complements the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to expand opportunities for American workers and manufacturers.”
Based on her report Tai is proposing the following modifications to various sectors...
