After the United States finalized its tariff increases on Chinese goods, including electric vehicles ( EVs ), batteries, solar panels, metals, and medical tools, Beijing has pledged to take measures to protect Chinese firms ‘ interests.  ,
Following Section 301 tariff investigations, the Office of the United States Trade Representative ( USTR ) announced on September 13 that it will continue with its previously proposed tariff increases on imports from China.  ,
From September 27 this month, the US will establish a 100 % tax on EVs and a 50 % tax on solar cell, syringes and needles imported from China. It will also impose a 25 % tariff on China’s facemasks, battery parts ( non-lithium-ion batteries ) and lithium-ion EV batteries, critical minerals, ship-to-shore cranes and steel and aluminum products.
The US will start imposing a 50 % tax on Chinese-made health gloves and electronics starting in 2025. From the beginning of 2026, the US will impose a 25 % tariff on China’s lithium-ion non-EV batteries, natural graphite and permanent magnets, a 50 % tariff on facemasks and also a 100 % tariff on medical gloves.  ,
These tax increases, which cover imports worth US$ 18 billion from China, have mostly been unchanged from those that the Biden administration announced on May 14.
The USTR stated on September 13 that it made its decision after taking into account public feedback and the recommendations of the Interagency Section 301 commission and other acceptable advisory boards.  ,
China has consistently made significant representations to the US side regarding Area 301 tariffs, and the WTO has already determined that these taxes are against the rules, according to a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce. ” Instead of addressing this, the US has further increased tariffs on Chinese products, compounding its mistakes” . ,
The US Section 301 tariff increase, according to the spokesperson, is standard unilateralism and protectionism that drives up the costs of US imports while finally being borne by US businesses and consumers.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry released its 2024 Report on US compliance with the World Trade Organization ( WTO ) on September 12. The statement expressed grave concern about the US’s alleged misuse of Section 301 to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, claiming that the US “disrupts world business and provide chains”.
Additionally, it criticized the US for defaming the multilateral trading system, engaging in punitive trade bullying, imposing double standards on professional policies, and stifling the global commercial and supply chains by politicizating and using economic and trade issues by using a “tariff baton” under the guise of “de-risking.”
According to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT ), Section 301 tariffs violate WTO guidelines and severely impair the trust of the relevant Chinese and US industries in long-term, stable cooperation.
Tech income
The Office of the USTR’s latest announcement said Chinese semiconductors that will be subject to a 50 % import tariff include diodes, transistors, photosensitive semiconductors, processors and controllers, integrated circuits ( memories, amplifiers and others ) and parts of integrated circuits and microassemblies.  ,
But, CITIC Securities said the US price hikes will not have a big impact on China’s semiconductor industry. It said China’s export of semiconductors to the US amounted to 22.7 billion yuan ( US$ 3.2 billion ), or only about 1.65 % of China’s total exports of semiconductors of 13.78 trillion yuan in 2023.  ,
Another analysts claimed that Taiwanese thermal product manufacturers are more affected by overcapacity than US tariff increases.
There has been hardly any immediate import of solar panels from China to the US in the past 12 years, according to Lu Jinbiao, deputy director of the expert council of the Beijing branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, who spoke to Yicai.com.
He claimed that since the US began an anti-dumping exploration into Chinese renewable batteries and units in October 2012, Chinese manufacturers have rerouted their production traces to Southeast Asian nations like Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos to avoid additional US tariffs.
In order to provide US providers more time to build their domestic production capacity, the Biden administration extended a tax deduction for renewable product producers in the four Southeast Asian nations by two years in June 2022.  ,
After the deduction expired on June 6 of this year, US manufacturers of solar materials from the four nations are now required to pay an additional 14.25 % work.  ,
Lu said some manufacturers of Taiwanese renewable energy might choose to relocate to the US to prevent additional tariffs while others might be in Southeast Asia. He claimed in an interview with Caixinglobal.com that the bigger issue in China’s thermal product sector is a price war brought on by overcapacity and fragile global demand.  ,
He claimed that some Chinese thermal product manufacturers have since lost money as a result of the decline in silicon prices from 300,000 yuan per lot two years ago. He claimed that since the third quarter of last year, costs of solar chips, cell, and components have fallen by more than 50 %.  ,
Longi Green Energy Technology, China’s thermal chip maker, reported a net loss of 5.2 billion yuan in the six month ended June 30 this year, compared with a net income of 9.2 billion yuan a month earlier.  ,
A solar body manufacturer, TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology, recorded a net loss of 3 billion yuan in the first quarter, compared to a 4.5 billion yuan earnings in the same time of last year.  ,
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