The Trump campaign on Tuesday said President Biden’s plan to quadruple tariffs on electric vehicles and other clean energy goods imported from China is part of a misguided effort to do away with gas-powered electric vehicles.
“Joe Biden’s action today is a weak and futile attempt to distract from the grievous harm his insane Electric Vehicle mandate is doing to the U.S. auto industry and how his radical policies are wiping out thousands of American auto jobs,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign secretary.
The administration is increasing tariffs on $18 billion in Chinese imports across a handful of sectors deemed strategic to national security, focusing on clean energy goods.
Tariff increases will apply to important steel and aluminum, legacy semiconductors, electric vehicle battery components, critical minerals, solar cells, cranes, and medical products from China. The new rates will range from 100% on electric vehicles to 50% for solar components to 25% for all other sectors and will be imposed over the next two years.
Several goods and technologies imported from China will have their tariffs more than quadrupled. For example, electrical vehicle tariffs will rise from 25% to 100%, and levies on Lithium-ion batteries will increase from 7.5% to 25% by 2026.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP nominee, has zeroed in on Mr. Biden’s efforts to increase the share of electric vehicles driven by Americans. Mr. Trump warns of mass job losses and that the required infrastructure is not yet in place.
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Mr. Biden has implemented a bevy of rules tightening auto emissions and other standards that would require automakers to sell more electric vehicles and hybrids. The moves are aimed at appeasing the president’s climate-centric base.
Ms. Leavitt said the tariffs were not about protecting American manufacturing, but forcing Americans to support the electric vehicle industry by keeping less expensive Chinese models out of the U.S.
“The fact that these tariffs do not apply to gas-powered cars and trucks but only to Chinese EVs shows that this has nothing to do with protecting American Workers. It’s all about Crooked Joe’s agenda of killing gas-powered automobiles while forcing Americans into ultra-expensive Electric Vehicles they don’t want and can’t afford,” she said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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