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US President Joe Biden has called for a tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium, alleging "unfair competition," as he seeks blue-collar voters in the November election. In response to a recent petition by five US unions, Biden's call coincides with the US Trade Representative (USTR) that it will begin investigating China's trade practices in the shipbuilding, maritime, and logistics sectors.
"Chinese policies and subsidies for their domestic steel and aluminum industries mean high-quality US products are undercut by artificially low-priced Chinese alternatives produced with higher emissions," the White House said in a statement.
China produces over half of the world's steel and exports the metal for considerably lower costs than the US. Biden encouraged the USTR to treble an existing rate under Section 301 of the Trade Act while it evaluates tariffs placed on China during Trump's administration.
Currently, this section's average tariff on steel and aluminium is 7.5%. The Trump administration's main instrument for justifying tariffs in the trade conflict with China was the so-called Section 301 probe. The White House further stated Wednesday that Biden is also ordering officials to collaborate with Mexico to stop China from evading tariffs.
Meanwhile, the USTR investigation into shipbuilding and other sectors comes after a petition last month by unions including the United Steelworkers. They urged for action to address "unreasonable and discriminatory" policies and practices used by Beijing to dominate these industries.
Biden won the backing last month of the United Steelworkers union and has opposed a bid by Japan's Nippon Steel to take over the Pittsburgh-brd US Steel. The White House said on Wednesday that Biden would continue making clear that it is "vital" for US Steel to remain an American company that is domestically owned and operated.
During a trip to China this month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States "will not accept" a situation in which underpriced Chinese goods flood the global market, battering industries elsewhere. She raised the issue of excess capacity with Chinese counterparts as well. But Liu Pengyu, spokesman for China's embassy in Washington, earlier defended the uptick in exports including electric vehicles as "the result of international division of labor and market demand."
The White House, however, maintained that the Biden administration "recognizes growing concerns that unfair Chinese trade practices, including flooding the market with below-market-cost steel, are distorting the global shipbuilding market and eroding competition."
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