PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden on Wednesday gave a shout-out to workers in the steelworkers union, vowing his administration would block the Japanese company's takeover of U.S. Steel and using trade policy to win working-class votes. He called for tariffs on Chinese steel to be tripled. Pennsylvania, a battleground state.
During a visit to United Steelworkers headquarters, Biden said U.S. Steel “has been an iconic American company for more than a century, and it must remain fully American.”
“This is the best company in the world, American-owned and run by the American Steelworkers union. I promise you it will happen,” the Democratic president said.
The administration is considering a possible acquisition by Japan's Nippon Steel. Mr. Biden announced last month that he would oppose the deal, saying it was “essential to ensuring that we remain a domestically owned and operated American steel company.”
But in front of an audience of union supporters, he went further. “America has a spine of steel,” Biden said.
U.S. Steel's largest plant, Gary Works, is located in northwestern Indiana, employing 4,300 people, according to dataaxle, a commercial directory service. U.S. Representative Frank Murban (D-Highland) praised Biden's comments, as he has expressed skepticism about Nippon Steel's track record and concerns about national security.
“I welcome the president to join myself, members of the Congressional Steel Caucus, and the United Steelworkers, who have been staunch opponents of foreign takeover of U.S. Steel since the beginning,” Murban said in a statement. “I supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with the strongest Buy America requirements in our nation’s history to support our domestic manufacturing base rather than build it up for sale. We urge you to follow this rhetoric with action to stop this takeover and protect American workers, the domestic steel industry, and our national security.”
In another move the administration says can protect domestic steel workers, Biden announced tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum aimed at protecting U.S. producers from a flood of cheap imports. We are promoting the increase.
These announcements reflect the intersection of Biden's international trade policy and re-election efforts, but rather than galvanizing a union audience, the White House is trying to protect U.S. manufacturing from unfair trade practices abroad. He claimed that the purpose was to protect from
The current tariff rate for both steel and aluminum is 7.5%, but it could rise to 22.5%. Biden said he is asking the trade representative to raise tariffs.
“The United States is repeating the same mistake” by calling for higher tariffs, said Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington. In his statement, he rejected these taxes, which have already been introduced, as “the embodiment of American unilateralism and protectionism.”
The administration also pledged to pursue investigations into countries and importers that seek to saturate existing markets with Chinese steel, and to prevent Chinese companies from shipping steel into the country for export to the United States and avoid tariffs in Mexico. He said he is cooperating with the
“The President understands that we must invest in American manufacturing. But we must protect these investments and workers from unfair exports related to China’s industrial overcapacity,” White said. said House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard.
When Mr. Biden arrived, he was greeted by a small group of steelworkers, one of whom said, “Keep US Steel in America.” Mr. Biden responded, “It's guaranteed.” And the president told the audience in his speech, “This is not labor, this is unions.”
He was participating in a three-day Pennsylvania swing, starting Tuesday in his childhood hometown of Scranton and scheduled to visit Philadelphia on Thursday.
In a brief exchange with reporters before leaving Scranton, Biden was asked about escalating trade tensions with China and responded, “There is no trade war.” Later, at the war memorial in Scranton, Biden crouched and traced the name of one of the fallen soldiers, his uncle Ambrose J. Finnegan Jr., who died in World War II.
The announcement regarding steel tariffs was welcomed by US steel manufacturers. Kevin Dempsey, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, said China is disrupting “world markets by subsidizing the production of steel and other products and dumping those products into the United States and other markets.” I accused him of being there.
But the tariff move is largely symbolic.
The United States imported about $6.1 billion in steel products in the 12 months ending February 2023, but only 3% of that came from China, according to Census Bureau statistics. Citing trade barriers that already exist, the American Iron and Steel Institute said China accounted for just 2.1% of U.S. steel imports last year, making it the seventh largest source of foreign steel for the United States.
At the same time as the announcement, the Biden campaign announced a 60-second ad that will air on television in Pennsylvania over the next five days. A steel worker who is also the mayor of a small town is shown praising the president's economic policies.
Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is investigating China, saying her office is “targeting the shipping, logistics and shipbuilding sectors for control” based on a petition from five national labor unions. announced.
“This allegation reflects what we have already experienced in other areas,” Tai said in a statement.
The administration accuses China of unfairly flooding the market with below-market-cost steel, distorting the market more broadly and undermining competition.
“China's policy-driven excess capacity poses serious risks to the future of the U.S. steel and aluminum industry,” Brainard said. Referring to China's economic downturn, he added that Beijing “cannot export its path to recovery.”
However, increasing tariffs could carry significant economic risks. Higher prices for steel and aluminum could make cars, construction materials and other key goods more expensive for U.S. consumers.
Inflation is already weighing on Biden's political fortunes, and his turn to protectionism mirrors the strategy of his Republican predecessor and opponent in this fall's election, Donald Trump.
The former president imposed broad tariffs on Chinese goods during his administration, and during his second term campaign threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods unless they were traded on his desired terms. External analysis from consultancy Oxford Economics suggests that President Trump's proposed tariffs could have a negative impact on the overall U.S. economy.
China produces about half of the world's steel, far exceeding demand in its domestic market. Administration officials say the company sells steel to global markets for less than half the cost of steel produced in the United States.
The first step toward raising tariffs is completing a review of China's trade practices. Once Biden formally approves it, there will be a public notice and comment period.
During a recent visit to China, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned against over-saturating the market with cheap products, saying low-cost steel has “decimated industry around the world and in the United States.” According to China's state news agency, the Chinese side expressed serious concerns about US trade and economic policies that restrict China. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is also scheduled to visit China.
Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Josh Bork in Washington contributed to this report.
The Post-Tribune contributed.