US slaps steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports of chips, EVs, medical equipment | World News – The Indian Express
The US has imposed sharp tariff hikes on multiple Chinese imports, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products, prompting a response from China which said that the move “will seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation”.
US on Tuesday quadrupled EV duties to over 100% and doubled duties on semiconductor tariffs to 50%, the White House said in a statement. It cited “unacceptable risks” to US economic security posed by what it considers unfair Chinese practices that are flooding global markets with cheap goods.
The new measures affect $18 billion in imported Chinese goods including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, critical minerals, solar cells and cranes, the White House said.
The tariffs are to be phased in over the next three years, with those that take effect in 2024 covering EVs, solar cells, syringes, needles, steel and aluminum and more, AP reported.
The move comes during election year, and in the middle of a heated campaign between President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, in which both candidates are vying to show who’s tougher on China.
The United States imported $427 billion in goods from China in 2023 and exported $148 billion to the world’s No. 2 economy, according to the US Census Bureau, Reuters reported.
Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the tariffs will raise the cost of select Chinese goods and help thwart Beijing’s efforts to dominate the market for emerging technologies in ways that pose risks to US national security and economic stability.
“China’s using the same playbook it has before to power its own growth at the expense of others by continuing to invest, despite excess Chinese capacity and flooding global markets with exports that are underpriced due to unfair practices,” Brainard told reporters on a conference call.
China’s commerce ministry said in a statement the that the tariffs were “typical political manipulation” as it expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” and pledged to “take resolute measures to defend its rights and interests”.
New tariff rates
Biden will increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 from 25% to 100% on EVs, bringing total duties to 102.5%, from 7.5% to 25% on lithium-ion EV batteries and other battery parts and from 25% to 50% on photovoltaic cells used to make solar panels. Some critical minerals will have their tariffs raised from nothing to 25%.
The tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes will rise to 25% from zero, those on syringes and needles will rise to 50% from nothing now and some personal protective equipment (PPE) used in medical facilities will rise to 25% from as little as 0% now.
More tariffs will follow in 2025 and 2026 on semiconductors, as well as lithium-ion batteries that are not used in electric vehicles, graphite and permanent magnets as well as rubber medical and surgical gloves.
A step Biden previously announced to raise tariffs on some steel and aluminum products will take effect this year, the White House said.
Former president Trump said the new tariffs should be applied to other types of vehicles and products. “They’ve also got to do it on other vehicles and they have to do it on a lot of other products,” he told reporters as he entered court for his hush money trial in New York. “They have to do it on much more than electric vehicles.”
