Up to 100 percent?
Biden wants to quadruple tariffs on electric cars from China
May 10, 2024, 7:54 p.m
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The USA apparently wants to impose new tariffs in trade with China – in strategically important sectors such as electric cars, batteries and solar systems. According to insiders, the increase in existing tariffs could be steep.
According to sources, the US government is preparing to increase tariffs on energy products from China in the coming days. The tax on Chinese electric cars could be roughly quadrupled, said people familiar with the matter. The higher tariffs that Biden administration officials plan to announce Tuesday will also affect critical minerals, solar products and batteries from China, the people said. The decision comes at the end of a years-long review of tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump on about $300 billion worth of goods from China.
The Biden administration is now particularly focused on electric vehicles and is expected to raise the tariff rate from 25 percent to about 100 percent, the people said. An additional tariff of 2.5 percent applies to all cars imported into the United States.
The existing tariff has so far effectively kept Chinese electric vehicles, which are often cheaper than Western-made cars, out of the U.S. market. The government, automakers and some lawmakers feared a 25 percent tariff would not be enough given the scale of Chinese production.
The Bloomberg agency had previously reported that President Joe Biden planned to announce new tariffs next week that would affect strategic sectors such as electric cars, semiconductors and solar systems. The decision is likely to have an impact on the car manufacturer Tesla, which also produces in China, as well as its Chinese rivals BYD and Nio and probably also on the chip producers Nvidia and Intel.