Biden Looks To Tariffs To Bolster Struggling Electric Vehicle Market

The Biden administration is considering increasing tariffs on some Chinese products related to his green agenda, like electric vehicles (EV), in an effort to boost poor market demand and protect domestic industries, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Officials are considering setting higher rates on the already existing tariffs originally placed under the Trump administration, covering around $300 billion in Chinese goods, with Chinese EVs already having a 25% import tax, according to the WSJ. New tariffs could help domestic EV manufacturing, which has struggled with stagnant market demand, only rising from 3% in January to 4% in September of total vehicles sold in the U.S., while the share of EVs produced out of all vehicles has risen from 3% to 6% in that same time frame.

“China is determined to dominate the electric vehicle market by using unfair trade practices, but I will not let them. I promise you,” President Joe Biden said in a speech to members of the United Auto Workers union in Belvidere, Illinois, in November.

In addition to EVs, the Biden administration is also considering raising tariffs on other goods to help his green agenda, including cheap Chinese solar products and EV battery packs, according to the WSJ. Biden is also considering lowering tariffs on some Chinese consumer goods that the administration has determined do not provide strategic importance.

The renewed talk of tariffs comes as China’s weak economy has led to an uptick in cheap exports pouring out of the country, threatening manufacturing in other countries like the U.S., which cannot compete with such low prices, according to the WSJ. China has continued to fail to resume the same economic growth it saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, with growth in both retail sales and fixed-asset investment not meeting expectations in November.

China is one of the world’s largest auto exporters and is able to produce EVs at often the cheapest rates in the world, according to the WSJ. The European Union, in its own push for EVs, has started an investigation to determine whether they should raise tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Some Biden administration officials have previously been hostile to some of the tariffs on China, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pushing to lower the levies, saying that it could help bring down inflation while not affecting any strategic goals, according to the WSJ. The tariffs are also a source of diplomatic tension between the U.S. and China, stifling cooperation.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.