Schumer, at-risk Dems ask Biden to hike tariffs on China

A group of Midwestern Senate Democrats, joined by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are urging the Biden administration to raise tariffs on China, warning that any cuts to Trump-era duties could hurt U.S. workers — and, implicitly, give the former president an electoral attack line on Democrats.

Their letter to President Joe Biden, obtained by POLITICO, is the strongest push yet from lawmakers to influence the outcome of Biden’s multi-year review of the tariffs, imposed by Trump in 2018 on more than $300 billion of imports from China. That review could be completed as soon as this month, according to four former administration and industry officials with knowledge of internal deliberations, granted anonymity to discuss confidential policy planning.

“Keeping the [China] tariffs in place and increasing the tariffs where necessary maintains a critical piece of a pro-worker trade agenda,” wrote Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), along with Schumer and Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wisc.), Bob Casey (Pa.), John Fetterman (Pa.) Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Gary Peters (Mich).

“Any reduction” in the duties, they added, “allows China to gain a competitive advantage over hardworking Americans.”

Lawmakers on Wednesday added they want to ensure Biden does not give any ground to the Chinese government as his team finalizes the review.

“With this joint letter we're trying to elevate the issue and certainly make everybody aware of the extent to which China is cheating in this regard,” Baldwin said on Capitol Hill. The White House declined to comment and the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which led the tariff review, did not respond to a request for comment.

Baldwin and other Democrats insisted on Wednesday that their move was motivated by their concern for manufacturing workers — and not solely the election. Even so, the pressure from senators highlights the increasing focus on trade issues in the 2024 race as both parties appeal to working-class voters in Midwestern swing states who could determine the outcome of the presidential race and control of the Senate. Trump in recent weeks has floated his own plans for higher tariffs on all imports, while Biden has called for increased duties on steel and aluminum from China while his campaign slammed plans from Trump’s economic advisers to devalue the U.S. dollar.

Even if the legislators aren’t focused on the election when formulating trade policy, Biden is. The White House’s recent trade rhetoric and actions are “all about the election,” one former Biden administration trade official told POLITICO last week. “Trade animated [the election] in 2016, animated [it] in 2020, so it’s going to animate this election, too.”

While the review is ongoing, the Biden administration is moving towards a position that aligns with that of the Democratic lawmakers, according to the people with knowledge of discussions.

Though the decision is not final, the administration is likely to raise duties on a variety of Chinese products, including electric vehicles, critical minerals used in clean energy technologies, certain computer chips, steel and aluminum, according to the former administration officials and industry officials with knowledge.

The administration is not expected to offset those tariff increases with major reductions elsewhere, the people familiar with the discussions said. There had been a push previously to lower tariffs on a range of consumer goods, but the former administration officials said that momentum for that idea has slowed in recent months as the election nears.

“From a policy viewpoint, there are some in the administration who want to see tariff reductions,” said one former Biden official familiar with talks, “but given where we are in the political cycle, that view is being outweighed.”

The new pressure from Capitol Hill comes from a number of at-risk senators — particularly Brown, Casey and Baldwin — who have exercised outsized influence on the Biden administration’s trade policies. Last month, Biden said he would weigh tariffs on China’s shipbuilding industry after pressure from Baldwin and Casey. The president opposed the takeover of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel by a Japanese rival after pressure from Casey and Brown. And he abandoned contentious trade provisions in his Indo-Pacific economic pact after backchannel pressure from all three senators late last year.

Some aspects of the tariff decision — like higher duties on EVs and metals — are all but assured. Biden last month called for higher tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum in a Pittsburgh speech. Separately, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told federal lawmakers that the U.S. must take “decisive” action to protect American auto workers from a flood of cheap Chinese electric vehicles.

Other aspects of the review remain in flux despite the lengthy review, the people said. The administration will also likely raise duties on critical minerals used for clean energy technologies, of which China is a major producer, two of the former officials said, although there has been some debate over that in recent months.

“Treasury was not really for [tariffs on critical minerals],” said another former administration official, adding that they expect the proponents of the tariffs — including officials at USTR and the National Security Council — would prevail on that front.

Less advanced, older generation computer chips from China could be subject to higher duties as well, said one of the former officials, though the Biden administration is planning a separate action on so-called legacy semiconductors later this year, after the completion of a Commerce Department industry survey.