America intends to increase tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum

US President Joe Biden intends to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, denouncing “unfair” competition that harms American workers, in a new signal directed at a group of voters whose support he needs amid his election campaign to win a new term.

According to CNN, the White House on Wednesday blamed “China’s policies and its support for the steel and aluminum industries,” according to a statement.

With the presidential elections approaching in November, Biden called on the US Trade Representative to “consider increasing the customs duties” imposed on a portion of Chinese steel and aluminum imports “three times,” and the current duties reach about 7.5%.

The Democratic President is seeking to convince voters that he is the best ally of workers and unions, and in this context he will visit the headquarters of the Mining Industries Workers Union, after he recently gained their support after he confronted the Japanese company Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the giant American steel group US Steel.

When announcing its support for Biden, the union criticized his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, who is also seeking to win the votes of the working class and presents himself as a defender of reviving the American manufacturing industry, promising to increase customs duties by a large percentage if he is elected.

Also, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday the opening of an investigation into “China’s unfair practices in the areas of shipbuilding, maritime transport, and logistical activities.”

The US Trade Representative’s Office will undertake the investigation, which comes in response to a request from a number of union bodies in this sector, which denounce Chinese policies that are “more aggressive and intrusive than any other country.”

The White House emphasized that “steel is an essential component of our national shipbuilding industry.”

The White House announcements come against the backdrop of a sharp rivalry with China, despite the resumption of dialogue between the world’s two leading economic powers, and the measures taken to reduce the United States’ dependence on Chinese industries.

The White House added that “steel made in the United States remains essential to our economic and internal security,” stressing the need to provide “more sustainable steel” to American companies.

However, “high-quality American products currently find themselves competing with alternatives that are artificially reduced in price and produced with higher carbon emissions.”

The Biden administration cited “growing concerns that China’s unfair trade practices, particularly the dumping of below-market steel, are distorting the global shipbuilding market and undermining competition.”

Concerns about the surplus production capacity of the Chinese steel industry have increased with the significant slowdown in China’s construction sector, which has allowed products to be allocated for export.

A week after a visit to Beijing, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met on Tuesday in Washington with her Chinese counterpart within the framework of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and discussed with him again the issue of the surplus in Chinese production.

The Biden administration announces that it has doubled investments in new factories in the United States since it took power in January 2021, also confirming the creation of about 80,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector.