Another view...
... President Joe Biden unveiled sweeping tariff hikes on a range of Chinese imports, in an election-year bid to bolster domestic manufacturing in critical industries.
The US president cast the move as a necessary action to protect US workers and businesses from companies that he accused of stealing, cheating and dumping underpriced goods into international markets.
Biden is raising levies on semiconductors, batteries, solar cells, and critical minerals, in addition to previously reported increases on steel, aluminum and electric vehicles. The changes are projected to affect around $18 billion in current annual imports, the White House said.
"When you make tactics like this, you're not competing, it's not competition, it's cheating. And we've seen damage here in America," Biden said Tuesday at a White House Rose Garden event.
The moves represent Biden's most comprehensive update to China tariffs first imposed by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, and a recognition that a hawkish approach to trade with Beijing remains popular with US voters. None of Trump's tariffs will be reduced. Biden will ratchet up rates on goods the US struggled to import during the coronavirus pandemic, and for industries, like chips and green energy, that he's sought to bolster since he took office.
"The Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies," Biden said. "China heavily subsidized all these products, pushing Chinese companies to produce far more than the world can absorb and then dumping excess products on the market at unfairly low prices."
Biden must strike a careful balance. Additional tariffs risk increasing prices for consumers already hurting from inflation, and inspiring the ire of China. ...
