The Biden administration is considering tripling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China. That's what the president announced Wednesday during a visit to a steelworkers union in Pittsburgh.
During this event, held as part of his presidential campaign, Joe Biden proposed raising tariffs on these products as high as 25%. The Democratic president's promise is a clear pulse on the agenda of his Republican challenger Donald Trump, who has tariffs on China at the center of his campaign. During his term in office, he raised tariffs to 7.5%.
During his speech, Joe Biden assured that it is "vital" that steel production be domestic. The steel union applauded the Democrat's proposal. In addition to this, Biden promised that he will work with Mexico so that China cannot sell these products via the United States' southern neighbor.
The White House released a statement shortly thereafter supporting President Biden's speech. The text insists on the Democrat's intention to protect American workers. "Chinese policies and subsidies for their domestic steel and aluminum industries means high-quality U.S. products are undercut by artificially low-priced Chinese alternatives," the statement reads.
In Scranton, Pa., his hometown, Biden focused his speeches on the economy, from a very localized point of view. The Pennsylvania primary will be held next Tuesday. As he did with the auto union, the Democrat is trying to win over other workers at all costs to ensure his re-election in November.
The state will be a key battleground between the two candidates in the upcoming election, according to what the polls predict. At the moment, the polls give a small edge to Biden, who leads by 2% over Donald Trump, taking into account the average of the last six polls from various pollsters.
