With the declared aim of “protecting America’s strategic industries” and countering Beijing’s “unfair” subsidies, the United States have announced an increase in the duties on specific products coming from China, worth $18 billion (US estimates). Affected by the intervention of the White House are above all the electric cars (quadrupled tariff reaching 100 percent), i solar panels hey semiconductors (50 percent), the electric batteries hey critical minerals that are used to produce them (growth of 25 percent), as well as some imports of steel And aluminum.
US tariffs on China
“The new tariffs will protect our workers from unfair trade practices,” he said Joe Biden commenting on the restrictions launched on May 14 which should come into force between the end of 2024 and 2026. “I want a fair competitionI don’t want conflict”, added the American president who, during his administration, has invested billions of dollars in subsidies for the production of electric cars which, however, accuses theChinese exports. In 2023, in the United States alone, it amounted to $427 billion.
Duties on Chinese electric cars quadrupled
As mentioned, i US tariffs on Chinese electric cars They were quadrupled, going from the current 27.5 percent to 102.5 percent. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, in the first quarter of 2024 the Chinese automaker Geely exported 2,217 vehicles bearing its own brand to the United States, but another 60 thousand cars produced in China were sold in the United States under the name of a local brand, especially in the case Buick (General Motors). The new duties launched by Joe Biden also affect the lithium ion batteries necessary for electric vehicles. These, as well as their components, will now be subject to duties of 25 percent, compared to the current 7.5 percent. The same treatment is provided for lithium batteries of electric cars from 2026.
Other US tariffs on China
The new US tariff policy on China also affects cells for solar panelswhich this year went from 25 to 50 percent, as well as the semiconductors which, from next year, will see duties doubled, from 25 to 50 percent. The objective of Joe Biden’s protectionist measures, in this case, is to stop China in the race for legacy chips, old generation components which are however still essential for many sectors, from automotive to defense via aerospace. And again, this year syringes And needles will suffer a 50 percent duty, the masks And respirators of 25 percent (7.5 percent currently), while the same growth for rubber medical and surgical gloves is expected in 2026. Customs costs for some types of steel And aluminum Chinese will rise, as early as 2024, to 25 percent, as will those for some critical minerals. For natural graphite and magnets, however, the increase to 25 percent is expected from 2026.
China’s reaction to tariffs
The new ones US tariffs on China have generated reactions from Beijing which, in a statement from the Ministry of Commerce, states that Joe Biden’s decisions “will seriously affect bilateral relations”. China also pledges “resolute measures to defend the country’s rights and interests.”
