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Cailianshe News, August 26 (Editor: Liu Rui)This week, the US government may announce its final decision to significantly increase tariffs on some Chinese imports.

However, due to strong opposition from people in many industries in the United States, the US government's original plan to increase tariffs is facing strong public resistance, which may cause the US government to abandon some of its plans.

U.S. government expected to announce key tariff decision

In May this year, US President Biden announced that the "Section 301" tariffs imposed on China during the Trump administration would be maintained, while tariffs on China's "targeted strategic products" would be significantly increased. Among them, tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles would be tripled to 100%, tariffs on semiconductors and solar cells would be doubled to 50%, and new tariffs of 25% would be imposed on other strategic products such as lithium batteries and steel.

However, this tariff plan is obviously unpopular. After the plan was announced, thousands of letters of opposition poured into the Office of the United States Trade Representative. From electric vehicles to power utility equipment manufacturers, people from many industries in the United States are asking the US government to lower tariffs on China, or postpone or abandon the increase in tariffs, and to significantly expand the scope of tariff exemptions.

This forced the White House to announce at the end of July that the tariff increase plan originally scheduled to take effect on August 1 was postponed, and the final decision would be made at the end of August.

Now, as the end of August approaches, whether to abandon the tariff increase plan has become a major problem facing the US government. At the same time, this is also the first major trade decision made by the Biden-Harris administration since US Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential candidate.

Regarding the trade protectionist measures taken by the United States, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin previously pointed out that the United States continues to politicize economic and trade issues and further increase tariffs on China, which is a mistake on top of a mistake. It will only significantly increase the cost of imported goods, cause more losses to American companies and consumers, and make American consumers pay a higher price.

Wang Wenbin said that China urges the United States to earnestly abide by WTO rules and immediately cancel its tariff increase measures on China. China will take all necessary measures to defend its own rights and interests.

Opposition from various industries in the United States

After the Biden administration proposed a plan to increase tariffs, voices of opposition were heard from almost all walks of life in the United States.

For example, in its tariff plan, the Biden administration proposed to impose a new 25% tax on Chinese-made shore container cranes (referred to as "bridge cranes"). However, bridge cranes are almost an industry dominated by China, with no American manufacturers at all.

After the tariff plan was announced, the operator of the Port of New York and New Jersey, an important port in the United States, immediately stated that it had ordered 8 bridge cranes from China's Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Group, each priced at US$18 million. If a 25% tariff is imposed, the cost of each bridge crane will increase by US$4.5 million, "which will put significant pressure on the port's critical and limited resources."

Several lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, have also expressed doubts about the tariff plan, fearing that ports in their states will be negatively affected and calling for the exemption of existing orders for Chinese bridge cranes.

In addition, Warnock and other lawmakers urged the Office of the United States Trade Representative to reconsider its plan to impose a 50% tariff on imported syringes from China, saying that syringes are essential for feeding newborns and the tariff plan could disrupt the supply of syringes.

China is a major producer of disposable syringes. According to the United Nations trade database, in 2018, my country exported disposable syringes to 179 countries and regions, of which the United States accounted for 45.82%, making it my country's largest trading partner for disposable syringe exports.

Ford Motor Co. also asked the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to reduce tariffs on synthetic graphite, a key negative electrode material for electric vehicle batteries. Ford said it still uses graphite “almost exclusively” from China.

Autos Drive America, an organization representing foreign automakers, called for U.S. tariffs on Chinese batteries, components and critical minerals to remain stable until at least 2027 to allow automakers to "invest in U.S. production and launch affordable electric vehicles."