President Joe Biden plans to quadruple the tariff that former President Donald Trump imposed on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 percent as part of a larger action to raise tariffs on Chinese-made goods, including batteries, critical minerals, solar products, steel and aluminum, a person familiar with the decision said.
The White House will announce the decision Tuesday at an event to promote American jobs and investment, the person said. The tariff hikes align with other efforts by the administration to boost domestic production of clean energy products and semiconductors, including by working with Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act.
The impending action stems from a lengthy review of the tariffs that Trump imposed on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods in 2018 and 2019 under a law known as Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. That legislation requires the tariffs be reviewed after four years to determine if they are still needed. No tariff cuts are expected to come from the review.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, whose office led the review, seemed to signal that hard line in testimony at a Senate Finance Committee in April.
