(Washington) Washington gave details on Friday on the increases in customs duties on Chinese products from “strategic” sectors which had been announced in May by Joe Biden, a major subject of the electoral campaign between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
The new tariffs, which include a 100% increase on Chinese electric cars, will begin to be applied on September 27.
Electric vehicle batteries will be taxed at 25%, and solar panel cells at 50%. Semiconductors will be taxed at 50%, starting on 1er January 2025 only.
These tariff increases “will target China’s harmful policies and practices that continue to hurt American workers and businesses,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.
“These actions underscore the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to defending American workers and businesses from unfair trade practices,” she added.
The White House announced on May 14 a marked increase in customs duties applied to the equivalent of 18 billion dollars of Chinese products from sectors considered “strategic.”
China is “cheating”, but “we are not going to let it flood our market”, said US President Joe Biden.
“We will never let China control the market” for electric cars, he added, judging it “impossible for (our) car manufacturers to compete honestly”.
The USTR said in its statement that “the proposed changes in May 2024 were broadly adopted, with several updates to strengthen actions to protect American businesses and workers from unfair trade practices by China after consideration of more than 1,100 public comments.”
The USTR has published a document of around a hundred pages detailing in particular the products concerned, the tax rate, and the dates on which these increases come into effect.
Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the presidential election, intends, if elected, to raise customs duties again, and impose a tax on imports of “more than 10%”, or even 20% for those coming from certain countries.
On Tuesday, during the televised debate against her Democratic rival Kamala Harris, she saw it as a “tax on consumption” which will ultimately weigh on the American consumer.
She also criticized him for having, when he was president, “launched economic wars”, both with China and with the European Union.
Donald Trump had indeed launched a trade war against China, and imposed additional customs duties on Chinese imports. However, Joe Biden’s administration has largely kept them in place.