Persona Digest

The Biden administration on Friday locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports, including a 100% duty on electric vehicles, to strengthen protections for strategic domestic industries from China's state-driven excess production capacity.

The U.S. Trade Representative's said that many of the tariffs, including a 100% duty on Chinese EVs, 50% on solar cells and 25% on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and key minerals, would go into effect on Sept. 27.
The USTR determination, published on Friday but first reviewed by Reuters, showed a 50% duty on Chinese semiconductors, which now include two new categories - polysilicon used in solar panels and silicon wafers - are due to start in 2025.

Adjustments to the punitive "Section 301" tariffs on $18 billion worth of goods announced in May by President Joe Biden were minimal and disregarded auto industry pleas for lower tariffs on graphite and critical minerals needed for EV battery production because they are still too dependent on Chinese supplies.

USTR left unchanged the tariff increase to 25% from zero on lithium-ion batteries, minerals and components, with the increase for batteries for EVs taking effect Sept. 27 and those ..
 

'TOUGH, TARGETED'

Lael Brainard, the top White House economic adviser, told Reuters that the decision was made to ensure that the U.S. EV industry diversifies away from China's dominant supply chain.

She said such "tough, targeted" tariffs are needed to counteract China's state-driven subsidies and technology transfer policies that have led to over-investment and excess production capacity. But Washington is investing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of its own tax subsidies ..
"The 100% tariff on electric vehicles here does reflect the very significant unfair cost advantage that Chinese electric vehicles in particular are using to dominate car markets at a breathtaking pace in other parts of the world," Brainard said. "That's not going to take place here under the vice president's and the president's leadership."
China has vowed retaliation against the "bullying" tariff hikes and argued that its EV industry's success is due to innovation, not government support. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The higher U.S. tariffs take effect as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both courting voters in auto and steel producing states, trying to position themselves as tough on China ahead of the November pres ..