Biden Raises Tariffs On Chinese EVs, Critical Minerals

In recent months, more than one Ford executive – including CEO Jim Farley himself – have expressed concerns about the possibility that cheap Chinese EVs may wind up making it to U.S. soil, flooding the market and making life quite difficult for domestic companies like The Blue Oval. While Ford continues to work on developing its own low-cost EV platform and consumers admit they’d be willing to buy Chinese EVs if they’re cheaper than American-made ones, many politicians are also calling for those vehicles to be banned from U.S. soil, and Mexico recently took steps to prevent that from happening, too. The Biden Administration has been mulling its options for months now, and has long been expected to at least raise tariffs on Chinese EVs – and now, that’s precisely what has happened.

In fact, the Biden Administration has taken action to increase tariffs on a number of items coming from China, including steel, aluminum, semiconductor chips, among others. As far as Chinese EVs go, the tariff rate is set to increase from the current rate of 25 percent all the way up to 100 percent this year, a move that aims to prevent electric vehicle manufacturers based in that country from impacting American companies to the point where it becomes detrimental to their business as a whole.

Additionally, the Biden Administration will also move to increase the tariff rate on EV batteries and the raw materials that are used in their construction. Lithium-ion batteries will get a tariff rate boost from 7.5 percent to 25 percent in 2024, while others will jump to 25 percent in 2026. Battery components will get an increase from 7.5 percent to 25 percent this year as well, while natural graphite and permanent magnets will increase from zero to 25 percent in 2026 and certain other critical minerals will go from zero to 25 percent in 2024.

“China’s unfair trade practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are threatening American businesses and workers,” the administration said of these changes. “China is also flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports. In response to China’s unfair trade practices and to counteract the resulting harms, today, President Biden is directing his Trade Representative to increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on $18 billion of imports from China to protect American workers and businesses.”

We’ll have more on these new tariffs soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.