US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Thursday gave a strong endorsement to Canada’s decision to impose a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25 per cent on Chinese steel and aluminium as she finalises US duties planned at similar rates.
In a statement issued by her office, Tai applauded Canada’s decision to take strong action against China’s “state-directed, unfair and anticompetitive non-market policies and practices, which threaten the existence of our market-oriented industries”.
“We share Canada’s concerns over the PRC’s unfair, non-market policies and practices and its failure to uphold labour rights, enforce environmental protections, and promote fair, market-oriented competition,” Tai said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Many US companies have asked for the duties to be eased, and exclusions expanded, but a US official told Reuters in Beijing that the expectation was for the Biden-Harris administration to follow through with well-communicated intentions on the tariffs.