See more updates from this story April 17, 2024, 3:08 p.m. ET1h ago
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Biden to Call for Tripling Tariffs on Chinese Steel Products In a speech to union steelworkers in Pittsburgh, the president will announce several new measures meant to raise new barriers against floods of Chinese imports.
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President Biden will travel on Wednesday to Pittsburgh, where he will ask the U.S. trade representative to increase tariffs to 25 percent on certain Chinese products that currently face tariffs of 7.5 percent — or no tariffs at all.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times
By Jim Tankersley and Nicholas Nehamas
Reporting from Washington and Scranton, Pa.
April 17, 2024, 5:04 a.m. ET
President Biden on Wednesday will call on his trade representative to more than triple some tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China, as part of a series of moves meant to help cushion American manufacturers from a surge of low-cost imports.
Speaking to the United Steelworkers Union in Pittsburgh, Mr. Biden will ask the U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, to increase tariffs to 25 percent on certain Chinese products that currently face tariffs of 7.5 percent — or no tariffs at all — U.S. officials said.
Mr. Biden will also announce a new trade representative investigation into China’s aggressive support for shipbuilders and other related industries, in response to a union complaint. And he will announce new initiatives to work with Mexican officials to block China from evading American steel tariffs by routing its exports through Mexico.
The moves represent an escalating effort by Mr. Biden and his aides to stop a flood of low-cost Chinese exports from undermining made-in-America products — and jeopardizing a central focus of Mr. Biden’s economic agenda.
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Those exports, which often enjoy heavy subsidies from Beijing and low-cost labor, propelled the Chinese economy to higher-than-expected growth in the opening months of the year. But they have raised alarms in the United States and other nations that trade heavily with China, with leaders of those countries accusing Chinese officials of flouting international trade law and disrupting their own domestic manufacturing.
Relations Between China and the U.S. Feeling Boxed In: President Biden’s effort to build U.S. security alliances in China’s backyard will likely reinforce the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s view that Washington is leading a containment campaign of his country. And there is not much Xi can do about it. Yellen’s Visit: Despite a warm welcome on Janet Yellen’s second trip to China as Treasury secretary, it was evident that the level of trust between Washington and Beijing does not run deep. Biden-Xi Call: Biden spoke with Xi in a call that was aimed at addressing a variety of combative and cooperative issues, as the United States grapples with wars and other global crises. Influencing the U.S. Election: Covert Chinese accounts are masquerading online as American supporters of Donald Trump, signaling a potential tactical shift in how Beijing aims to influence U.S. politics.
“China is simply too big to play by its own rules,” Lael Brainard, who heads Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, told reporters.
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Jim Tankersley writes about economic policy at the White House and how it affects the country and the world. He has covered the topic for more than a dozen years in Washington, with a focus on the middle class. More about Jim Tankersley
Nicholas Nehamas is a Times political reporter covering the re-election campaign of President Biden. More about Nicholas Nehamas
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