The Office of the US Trade Representative has delayed its final decision on whether they will add special tariffs to Chinese-made EVs.
According to the office, they received more than 1,100 comments and need more time to review them before issuing their decision.
In May, the Biden Administration announced it would quadruple tariffs on EVs imported from China from 25 percent to 100 percent to protect US manufacturing. They also announced increased import duties on other Chinese products, including batteries and battery parts, critical minerals, superconductors, steel, aluminum, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes and medical products. The proposed tariffs on these products range from 25% to 50%.
As part of any Section 301 trade request, the US Trade Representative takes direction from the Administration and opens it up to public comments before issuing a final decision. The decision to delay the announcement is not uncommon and ensures that stakeholders’ opinions and effects are considered before tariffs go live. The office did not specify when the decision would be made public but confirmed it would be this month.
As previously reported, Canada is also amid consultation for a tariff similar to the US on Chinese-made EVs. The consultation period for the Canadian tariffs has run for a month and will wrap up today with a decision sometime in the next few weeks.
