US President Joe Biden has called for triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, citing “untransparent competition” as he seeks to woo working-class voters in the November election.
According to the news of the foreign news agency ‘AFP’, this announcement by Joe Biden has come at a time when the US Trade Representative (USTR) recently filed on behalf of 5 American unions. In response to the petition, it has launched an investigation into China’s practices in the shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.
The US president is preparing to address steelworkers in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, the second day of a three-day visit to Pennsylvania, a state that played a major role in the presidential election.
Both Joe Biden and his rival, Donald Trump, are vying to woo working-class voters who played a key role in the election’s outcome, and are making promises to revive American industry.
China’s policies and subsidies for its steel and aluminum industries mean that artificially low-cost, high-polluting substitutes for Chinese goods are inferior to high-quality US goods, the White House said in a statement. Costs are being kept.
A senior U.S. official told reporters that China produces half of the world’s steel production, while the price of its metal exports is significantly lower than the U.S. steel price.
Now that the USTR is reassessing the Trump administration’s tariffs on China, Joe Biden has pushed to triple the current tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act.
Currently, the average tariff on steel and aluminum under this section is 7.5 percent.
The so-called Section 301 was the primary provision used by the Trump administration to justify tariff hikes in the trade war with China.
The White House added that Joe Biden is also instructing officials to work with Mexico to prevent tariff violations by China.
Made in America
Meanwhile, USTR probes into shipbuilding and other sectors have been launched after petitions were filed last month by other unions, including the United Steelworkers.
These organizations have called for measures to counter China’s dominance in industries with its ‘unfathomable and discriminatory’ policies and procedures.
Joe Biden last month won the support of the United Steelworkers and opposed a bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel for U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh.
The White House said Joe Biden will continue to make clear that it is critical for US Steel to remain a domestically owned American company.
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2024-04-19 16:10:21