U.S. to impose new tariffs on Chinese EVs

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to impose major new tariffs on electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the plan.

Tariffs on electric vehicles, in particular, could quadruple — from the existing 25% to 100%. The plan was described by the people on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details ahead of a formal announcement.

The tariffs, expected to be announced Tuesday, come as officials across the Democratic administration have expressed frustration over China’s manufacturing “overcapacity” of EVs and other products that they say pose a threat to U.S. jobs and national security.

Industrialized nations including the United States and its European allies fear a wave of lowpriced Chinese exports will overwhelm domestic manufacturing.

On the U.S. side, there is particular concern that China’s green energy products will undermine massive climate-friendly investments made through the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022.

The additional tariffs also carry some political heft going into the November presidential election. Both Biden and his presumptive Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, have told voters that they’ll be tough on China, the world’s second largest economy after the United States and an emerging geopolitical rival.

Biden has defined his policy as “competition with China, not conflict.”

He has embraced an industrial strategy that has used government financial support to pull in private investment in new factories and advanced technology, while limiting the selling of computer chips and other equipment to China.