On May 10, Bloomberg, the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal and other U.S. media successively cited news that the Biden administration announced tariffs on China as soon as this week, involving key areas such as electric vehicles, batteries and photovoltaics, among which the tariffs imposed on Chinese electric vehicles will rise to 100%. Reuters then exclusively broke the news that the Biden administration's tax hike also includes medical devices.
The U.S. government is expected to make an announcement on May 15, two of the people said. In addition to imposing new tariffs on a number of key industries, the announcement will also largely maintain the existing tariffs on China. The specifics are unclear and the White House declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, citing sources, reported that the Biden administration is focusing on industries that "have areas of strategic competition and national security."
Under Biden's new plan, tariffs on Chinese EVs will quadruple from 25% to 100%. Previously, a number of congressmen from both parties pressured the White House to directly ban the import of Chinese electric vehicles.
People familiar with the matter said that the series of measures is the result of an evaluation and review of the tariff policy on China during the Trump administration.
During the Trump administration, in the name of "national security", he practiced unilateralism and protectionism, and in 2018 and 2019, he invoked Section 301 (commonly known as Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974) to impose tariffs on Chinese imports.
After the current US President Joe Biden took office, although he repeatedly claimed that he was "considering reducing tariffs on China", he has not taken substantive action for a long time, and still insists on most of the tariffs during the Trump era.
Bloomberg previously mentioned in a report that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) began assessing tariffs on China in 2022, but did not mention a specific time for the end of the assessment.
The fact is that the tariffs imposed by the US Government on China have long made the US business circles dissatisfied. In March last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission also admitted that after an investigation, it was found that the Trump administration threatened to "make China pay", but it was actually U.S. importers and consumers who paid the price, and the import prices of U.S. companies and U.S. prices rose accordingly.
According to Bloomberg, this means that American companies bear almost the entire cost of the US tariffs on China.
However, with the U.S. election approaching in November and China's electric vehicles, photovoltaics and other products selling well all over the world, in order to grab political benefits, the Biden administration began to play the idea of raising tariffs, and has been making frequent moves since the end of last year.
In February, Biden issued a statement announcing that he would take "unprecedented action" to prevent Chinese connected cars and trucks, including electric vehicles, from entering the U.S. market.
Some auto industry officials later revealed that the Biden administration was considering raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. In April, the Biden administration announced that it would impose tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum three times. At the same time, U.S. officials have been hyping up the topic of so-called "overcapacity" in China.
In addition, the Mexican government announced on April 22 that it would impose temporary import tariffs of 5% to 50% on 544 items such as steel, aluminum, and textiles. Many analysts believe that Mexico's move to target Chinese goods is the result of pressure from the United States.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The US side is wrong on top of wrong!
On May 10, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian held a regular press conference.
A reporter asked that the Biden administration will announce a comprehensive decision on imposing tariffs on China as early as next week, and new tariffs are expected to be imposed on key strategic sectors. Does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have any response to this?
"Please ask the competent authorities for details." Lin Jian pointed out that the previous US administration's imposition of Section 301 tariffs on China seriously interfered with the normal economic and trade exchanges between China and the United States, and has been ruled by the WTO to have violated WTO rules. Instead of correcting its erroneous practices, the US side continues to politicize economic and trade issues and abuse the so-called Section 301 tariff review procedure to further increase tariffs.
Lin Jian said: We urge the US side to earnestly abide by WTO rules, cancel all tariffs imposed on China, and refrain from increasing tariffs. China will take all necessary measures to defend its rights and interests.
There have also been voices in the European Union that it may follow suit of imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, a move that has sparked a backlash from Germany, one of the EU's major powers. Germany's Federal Transport Minister Wiesing is adamantly opposed to punitive tariffs being imposed on China, and the president of BMW has joined the opposition.
German Federal Transport Minister Wiesing said: "We don't want to lock down the domestic market, but we want to compete with each other. ”
He stressed that the German government wants to ensure that German companies continue to create added value in Germany and remain competitive in global trade. Therefore, Germany wants an international level playing field and standardization, rather than waging an economic war through punitive tariffs.
Zipzer, CEO of the German BMW Group, also said on May 8, local time, that the EU's possible measures to impose additional tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China will only "shoot themselves in the foot", and he believes that "Europe's auto industry does not need trade protection".
Zipzer also warned that tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles could also jeopardize the EU's plans to reduce emissions.