Biden announces new tariffs on imports of Chinese goods, including electric vehicles

President Biden will slap tariffs on $18 billion of imports of goods from China including electric vehicles, semiconductors, and medical products to protect the strategic sectors and punish China for unfair trade practices.

He will also keep in place the tariffs that former President Donald Trump had placed on more than $300 billion of imports from China.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that she raised concerns last month during a trip to Beijing about "artificially cheap Chinese imports," concerns that she said many other countries share. She said the new tariffs are necessary to protect American workers and companies from what could become a flood of unfairly traded products.

The move comes as Biden pushes forward to implement three pieces of legislation that contain hundreds of billions of subsidies to boost the domestic manufacturing and clean energy sectors — and ahead of a presidential election where trade and jobs will again be an issue.

"We know China's unfair practices have harmed communities in Michigan and Pennsylvania and around the country that are now having the opportunity to come back due to President Biden's investment agenda," Lael Brainard, Biden's top economic adviser, told reporters.

Here's a list of the new tariffs

Most of the new tariffs cover items that the Biden administration has sought to have made in America through investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Some increases will take place this year. They include tariffs of:

• 100% on electric vehicles, up from 25%
• 50% on solar cells, up from 25%
• 50% on syringes and needles, up from zero
• 25% on lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, and battery parts, up