Kaptur Welcomes Biden Administration Announcement Of New Tariffs On Chinese Imports And Strategic Dumping Into American Markets
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water released the following statement following the Announcement that the Biden Administration will take action to protect American workers and businesses from China’s unfair trade practices. Kaptur, has strenuously urged the Administration to aggressively punish child and low wage labor nations and stop the illegal dumping of goods in the US especially in steel, autos, and solar production. Today’s announcement would increase tariffs on steel and aluminum from 0-7.5% to 25%; on semiconductors from 25% to 50%; on electric vehicles from 25% to 100%; on batteries, battery components and parts, and critical minerals from 7.5% to 25%; on solar cells from 25% to 50%; on ship-to-shore cranes from 0% to 25%; on syringes and needles from 0% to 50%; and, on certain respirators and face masks, the tariff rates will increase from 0–7.5% to 25%.
“I welcome the Administration’s long-awaited decision placing increased tariffs on imported Chinese steel, aluminum, electric cars, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, battery components, solar cells, and medical supplies, including those being backstopped into our market thru Mexico and countries in Southeast Asia. Economic warfare by undemocratic regimes poses a real threat to America’s prosperity.
“For far too long, our industrial region has faced unfair competition — outsourcing of production to penny wage economies with dumping of Trillions of Dollars of products on our shores with no reciprocity. As low wage China manufactures 4 times as much steel as the world consumes, and then dumps its cheap products on US markets, our manufacturers get crushed and jobs are lost. Our people know this agony all too well.
“With electric cars manufactured in penny wage Mexico being exported to the US, our trade deficit with Mexico is gaping especially in the automotive sector, both in finished cars and in parts. In the solar industry, China uses countries including Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam as a passthrough for Chinese made solar products to reach American markets, bypassing tariffs and sanctions. Thousands of workers at Ohio hometown companies work day in and day out to expand our domestic solar manufacturing capability, and to manufacture electric vehicles within our borders. It is time we stand with those workers and fight off China’s unfair trade practices.
“Our nation and its fair-trade allies who operate in a rules-based global economy are in for rude awakening. China is employing a new form of hybrid warfare to wipe out critical sectors of the US economy while it exports the lethal drug fentanyl and traffics it through Mexico to the US Over one million of our fellow citizens have already died and over 100,000 more will die every year from this Chinese made poison.
“Our nation must continue to reshore critical industries like manufacturing to our nation. What America Makes and Grows Makes and Grows America. Our nation must use this moment as a wakeup call to reshore supply chains and win the manufacturing race right here in our homeland, not outsource our vital worth.”
Congresswoman Kaptur has previously called on the Biden Administration to aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act against Chinese solar companies, applauded the US Department of Commerce finding of Chinese solar dumping, rebuked efforts by the Biden Administration to reclassify solar technology made in China, led efforts to support new US solar manufacturing jobs, voted to disapprove of previous Biden Administration efforts to suspend solar tariffs, and joined a letter to the US Department of Commerce and US Trade Representative calling for decisive action to increase tariffs on Chinese automobile imports.
A White House fact sheet on today’s announcement can be found by clicking here.
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