Biden to call for tripling tariffs on Chinese metals

PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden will call for tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum Wednesday when he speaks to union members in battleground Pennsylvania.

Biden, who is set to speak at the headquarters of the United Steel Workers, is in the middle of a three-day swing through the state focusing on economic issues, while his opponent, former President Donald Trump, faces jury selection in New York in his trial on charges he falsified business records to cover up an alleged affair with an adult film star.

The Biden administration says China is overproducing goods to export to the U.S., driving down prices and hurting the American economy because higher-quality U.S. products must compete with artificially low-priced alternatives.

The current average tariff on steel and aluminum from China is 7.5%, and Biden is calling on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative — the federal agency charged with developing U.S. trade policy — to triple the tariff rate.

Biden is also directing his administration to work with Mexico to prevent China’s evasion of tariffs on steel and aluminum that’s imported from Mexico into the U.S. The trade representative’s office is also launching an investigation into China’s trade practices in the shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.

Still, critics argue increased tariffs would backfire and raise consumer prices and inflation. China has denied the overcapacity accusation as “groundless,” and it accuses the U.S. of trying to prevent global competition.

“If taken, these actions will not increase inflation,” a senior administration official said. “But they will protect American jobs and the steel industry.”

Biden has been ramping up his economic rhetoric against China. So has Trump,