Gina M. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce | Ballotpedia
President Biden is taking action to safeguard American workers and businesses from China's unfair trade practices, which threaten key sectors crucial for America's economic future and national security. These practices include issues related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. Additionally, China's strategy of flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports has raised concerns. In response, President Biden has instructed his Trade Representative to raise tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on $18 billion worth of imports from China.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda has already stimulated over $860 billion in business investments through public incentives in future-oriented industries such as electric vehicles (EVs), clean energy, and semiconductors. With support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act, these investments are creating new jobs in manufacturing and clean energy sectors while aiding communities that have been left behind.
President Biden believes that American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone given fair competition. However, China’s government has long employed unfair non-market practices that have contributed to its control over significant portions of global production for critical inputs necessary for our technologies, infrastructure, energy, and health care—posing unacceptable risks to America’s supply chains and economic security.
Today’s actions are carefully targeted at strategic sectors—the same sectors where the United States is making historic investments under President Biden to create and sustain good-paying jobs. The previous administration’s trade deal with China failed to increase American exports or boost American manufacturing as promised. Under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been created and new factory construction has doubled after both fell under the previous administration. The trade deficit with China is currently at its lowest point in a decade.
The Biden-Harris Administration plans to continue working with global partners to strengthen cooperation in addressing shared concerns about China’s unfair practices—rather than undermining alliances or applying indiscriminate tariffs that raise prices on all imports from all countries, regardless of their engagement in unfair trade.
Following an in-depth review by the United States Trade Representative, President Biden is taking action to protect American workers and companies from China’s unfair trade practices. The President is directing increases in tariffs across strategic sectors such as steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes, and medical products.
These tariff rate increases will help support and sustain a strong domestic industrial base for essential supplies. The federal government and the private sector have made substantial investments to build domestic manufacturing for these and other products to ensure American health care workers and patients have access to critical medical products when they need them. Today’s announcement reflects President Biden’s commitment to always support American workers. When faced with anticompetitive, unfair practices from abroad, the President will deploy any and all tools necessary to protect American workers and industry.
