(Matthew Doarnberger, Headline USA) President Joe Biden has unveiled plans to significantly increase tariffs on several imported products from China, according to USA Today.
The items that the Biden administration has targeted for these tariffs include electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, steel, aluminum, critical minerals, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes and medical products.
In total, $18 billion in Chinese imports are set to be affected, CNN reported.
In defense of these measures—which appeared to hearken back to the policies of the Trump administration—Biden accused China of unfair trade practices that enabled them to flood the market with inexpensive products due to government subsidies.
“When you make tactics like these, it’s not competition, it’s cheating,” he said.
“And we’ve seen damage here in America,” he continued. “American workers can out-work and out-compete anyone as long as the competition is fair, but for too long it hasn’t been fair. We’re not going to let China flood our market.”
The administration’s policy toward China seeks to maintain the tariffs that former president Donald Trump enacted, which applied to $300 billion of Chinese imports during his four years in office.
When asked for comment about the Biden plan, Trump slammed his Democrat rival for waiting until now to apply the tariffs rather than enacting them at the beginning of his term.
“China is eating our lunch right now,” said the former president and presumptive GOP nominee—perhaps mocking a 2019 speech in which Biden downplayed concerns over the Asian superpower.
“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man… They’re not bad folks, folks … They’re not competition for us,” he said, according to Axios.
Biden attempted to respond by blaming Trump for China’s ascension, saying his predecessor had “been feeding them a long time.”
China’s foreign ministry reacted to the tariff increases with disappointment and stated the CCP would enact strong opposition to the measure.
“China opposes the unilateral imposition of tariffs which violate World Trade Organization rules and will take all necessary actions to protect its legitimate rights,” said spokesperson Wang Wenbin, according to CNN.
The United States Trade Representative’s Office estimated that the implementation of the tariffs would take effect in approximately 90 days.
