‘The PRC Has Been Playing By A Different Set Of Rules’: Ambassador Tai Defends New Tariffs On China

4 months ago

During a White House press briefing on Tuesday, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke about the Biden Administration’s decision to set new tariffs on China.

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Transcript

00:00 Well, good afternoon, everyone. President Biden has consistently been clear that he will take

00:05 action to defend American workers and businesses from the unfair trade practices of the People's

00:10 Republic of China. Today, he is once again keeping that promise. President Biden and I both know that

00:18 American workers and businesses can out-compete anyone as long as the competition is fair.

00:24 But for too long, the PRC has been playing by a different set of rules with unfair and

00:30 anti-competitive economic practices. Those unfair practices include forced technology transfer,

00:38 including cyber hacking and cyber theft; non-market policies such as targeting industrial

00:45 sectors for dominance, labor rights suppression, and weak environmental protection; and flooding

00:51 markets worldwide with artificially cheap products that wipe out the competition.

00:56 The President's action today is a part of his vision to rebuild our supply chains

01:02 and our ability to make things in America, to lower costs, out-compete the PRC, and encourage

01:11 the elimination of practices that undercut American workers and businesses. We are doing that

01:17 by investing in manufacturing and clean energy here at home and raising tariffs to protect these

01:23 investments. I conducted a statutory review of the PRC's forced technology transfer and other

01:31 intellectual property-related practices, which were the subject of the 2018 Section 301 investigation.

01:37 In that review, I found that the PRC continues to deploy these unfair trade practices,

01:44 and I conveyed my findings to the President in a report, which is available on the USTR website.

01:50 It is clear that the previous administration's trade deal with the PRC failed to increase

01:57 American exports or boost manufacturing. In fact, China's exports in some critical sectors like EVs

02:03 and batteries actually increased. In response, President Biden today signed a memorandum

02:10 directing me to increase tariffs on critical manufacturing and mining sectors,

02:16 including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, solar cells,

02:22 and certain critical minerals. The increased tariffs are expected to cover approximately

02:28 $18 billion of trade. The President also directed a process to request excluding certain production

02:37 machinery from the tariffs to permit solar and clean manufacturers to purchase equipment while

02:44 diversifying their suppliers. Next week, I expect to issue a public notice that conveys the specific

02:52 tariff lines, tariff rates, and timing for the proposed increases, along with the details of

02:59 the machinery exclusions process. This strong action by the President is strategic. As he has

03:05 said, we do not seek to constrain China's economic development, but we will insist on fair competition

03:14 and defend American workers from the PRC's unfair practices. Today's direction by the President

03:21 defends American workers and businesses from the PRC's artificially cheap products, whether EVs or

03:27 steel or critical minerals or semiconductors. I also want to emphasize that we continue to consult

03:34 with our partners and our allies who face similar threats from the PRC's unfair trade practices

03:40 and are also voicing their concern with those unfair practices and taking action. Our partners

03:47 are essential to addressing the broader threat to our working families and businesses. Today's

03:53 strong tariff announcement is an important part of President Biden's worker-centered trade policy,

03:59 which is about using trade to empower workers and making sure that they can compete fairly

04:06 and thrive, and supports the historic investments we have already made here at home.

04:12 I can now take your questions.

04:13 Thank you, Ambassador. First, there seems to be some confidence that these tariffs won't

04:21 cause the competition to slide into conflict with China. If you could just explain a little

04:26 bit about why you are so confident. And then secondly, BYD is looking to build EV factories

04:34 in Mexico that could flood the U.S. market. Why isn't the administration preemptively announcing

04:40 tariffs to hit these vehicles?

04:42 So you actually asked two questions.

04:46 I did.

04:46 Yes. So let me begin with the first, which is that we've been very, very clear about the

04:53 strategic nature of this tariff review process and the focus on ensuring that the actions that

05:00 are announced will be effective in leveling the playing field, giving our workers and our

05:05 businesses the chance to continue to compete and to thrive against an onslaught of really,

05:12 really challenging measures and a challenging economic system that is coming from Beijing.

05:18 We have been clear about this with the American public. We have also been equally clear about

05:23 this with our counterparts in Beijing. Every single one of us from the President on down

05:28 over the course of the last three years have made clear the challenges that we are facing,

05:33 the nature of that challenge, and the need for us to act, because we know what happens if we

05:39 don't act and we don't defend. We will see the same patterns repeated over and over again.

05:46 So what we are doing today should by no means be a surprise to our counterparts in Beijing.

05:52 We have made clear this is not about escalation. This is about the consequences of decades of

05:58 economic policy and the need for the United States to defend our rights.

06:03 And the second question was on EVs and BYD in Mexico. At USTR, that is exactly what we are

06:14 built to worry about and to be concerned with. That will require a separate pathway. This is

06:21 about imports from China. What you are talking about would be imports from Mexico. Equally

06:27 important, something that we are talking to our industry, our workers, and our partners about.

06:31 I would just ask you to stay tuned.

‘The PRC Has Been Playing By A Different Set Of Rules’: Ambassador Tai Defends New Tariffs On China

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