Joseph R. Biden Jr. has escalated President Donald J. Trump’s trade war with Beijing, maintaining the tariffs imposed by his predecessor and announcing increases in some tariffs. While both men criticize China’s economic practices, Biden’s approach is focused on increasing production and jobs in high-tech industries, particularly clean energy sectors. He has imposed more restrictions on trade with China and is working to bring international allies together to counter Chinese trade practices through a mix of incentives and potentially coordinated tariffs.
Trump’s plan includes more tariffs and less trade, with aggressive restrictions on trade with China and tariffs on over $360 billion worth of Chinese products. He has pledged new efforts to further sever the trading relationship with China in a second term, including barriers to investment and bans on Chinese imports The former president criticized Biden for being weak on China and has promised additional tariffs if re-elected.
Biden, who was initially critical of Trump’s tariffs, has decided to maintain and increase tariffs on select Chinese imports. His administration has also imposed new restrictions on technology exports to China and is cracking down on imported Chinese smart-car technologies. Biden’s approach is influenced by economic rationale, swing-state political pressures, and efforts to outperform Trump on the China issue, although he has not rolled back any of the tariffs imposed by Trump.
Biden’s trade policy differs from Trump’s in that it couples restrictions on China trade with strategic investments, through government spending and tax credits, to entice production in targeted sectors. One area of divergence between their approaches is electric vehicles, with Trump viewing them negatively and Biden supporting their production and consumption in the U.S. Biden is concerned about competition from Chinese goods and is using tariffs to protect American industrial investments, including planning to quadruple tariffs on imported electric vehicles.
While Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum alienated allies, Biden is seeking to build a coalition of wealthy democracies to counter Chinese trade practices, particularly in clean energy. His administration led efforts to outline a harmonized strategy at the Group of 7 summit and hopes for cooperation on tariffs as well. This approach contrasts with Trump’s go-it-alone posture and could potentially lead to coordinated tariffs with Europe, which is conducting its own investigations of Chinese trade practices and considering raising tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles.
