Biden intends to triple tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China

President Biden announced his intention to increase tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China three times. Such measures are aimed at combating alleged “unfair competition” from Chinese exporters and protecting U.S. steel mills.

“President Biden urges the U.S. trade negotiator to consider tripling the existing tariff rate under Section 301 on Chinese steel and aluminum,” the document said. The current import rate on certain categories is 7.5%. Additionally, the White House will launch investigations into China’s “unfair practices” in shipbuilding, shipping and logistics.

In addition, the U.S. administration has instructed the relevant working group to hold talks with the Mexican government to jointly counter “evasion of customs duties by China and other countries” by importing products to the Central American republic and then exporting them to the United States.

Earlier, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said Washington is willfully abstracting the notion of national security to “arbitrarily apply unilateral sanctions and resort to ‘long arm jurisdiction’.” He called such U.S. actions “typical economic coercion and bullying.”