US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a raft of tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports, confirming earlier reports by international media that the action would be taken.

The move risks a stand-off with Beijing in an election year as Biden tries to project strength to woo voters. Chinese goods valued at US$18 billion are targeted for the increased tariffs, according to a report from
CNN. Goods including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips, and medical products are affected by the increased tariffs.

“American workers can outwork and outcompete anyone as long as the competition is fair, but for too long it hasn’t been fair,” Biden was quoted as saying in a report on Reuters, an international news wire service.

China immediately vowed retaliation. Its commerce ministry said Beijing is opposed to the US tariff hikes and will take measures to defend its interests.

Biden will keep tariffs put in place by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump while ratcheting up others, including a quadrupling of EV duties to over 100 per cent, up from 27.5 per cent, and doubling the duties on semiconductor tariffs to 50 per cent, the White House said in a statement. Solar components will attract a tariff of 50 per cent while all other sectors will pay tariffs of 25 per cent. The tariffs will be rolled out over the next two years.

“China’s using the same playbook it has before to power its own growth at the expense of others,” said Lael Brainard, director of White House National Economic Council. “China’s simply too big to play by its own rules.”

Announcing the new tariffs during a speech in the Rose Garden on Tuesday, Biden said he seeks “fair competition with China, not conflict”.

The United States imported US$427 billion in goods from China in 2023 and exported $148 billion to the world’s number two economy, according to the US Census Bureau, a trade gap that has persisted for decades and become an evermore sensitive subject in Washington.