President Joe Biden’s recently announced new tariffs on select Chinese imports have received lukewarm responses from Conservatives who have awaited such tariffs for months.
President Biden claimed he would be imposing tariffs on Chinese steel, aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, ship-to-shore cranes, and certain medical products.
However, some Republicans are not convinced by Biden’s latest trade move, one similar to another executed by former President Donald Trump, which Biden heavily criticized.
US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) welcomed Biden’s decision but claimed tariffs should be extended to Chinese internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
According to Senator Rubio, EVs represent only a fraction of China’s total profits from vehicle sales, the majority of which are from ICE vehicles.
Rubio claims Chinese ICE vehicles, made artificially cheap via deceptive trade practices, will soon begin to outcompete American vehicles.
Namely, Rubio stated Chinese automakers are seeking to expand operations in Mexico to exploit duty-free provisions in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Rubio sent Biden a letter outlining these concerns and urging the latter to “address the extinction-level threat that Chinese vehicles, both internal combustion engine and electric, pose to American automakers and the workers they employ.”
Regarding solar panels, US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) had been pressing Biden on the need to levy tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels.
Senator Scott had previously passed legislation to counter illicit Chinese sales of solar panel parts, which Biden subsequently vetoed.
Biden had claimed Chinese solar panel manufacturers ensure "we have a thriving solar installation industry ready to deploy American-made solar products to homes, businesses and communities across the nation."
