US-China Economic and Security Review Recommends Hiking Tariffs on Electronics, EVs

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that Congress evaluate the national security threat posed by the import of Chinese-made electronics products, and then, "to eliminate or mitigate risks identified in the threat matrix evaluation, Congress should consider the use of all trade tools, including tariffs."

The commission focused more on export control policy, but it did suggest several governmental actions that could affect importers. It said Congress should direct the administration to coordinate with the EU and the U.K. on raising or maintaining tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, electric golf carts and "related inputs and technologies."

"Beijing is using subsidies to help its exports gain large shares of the global market for new products like electric vehicles," the annual report, released Nov. 15, said.

The commission said that the Chinese Communist Party still rejects cooperating with the U.S. on trade, despite its domestic economic slowdown.

"China now appears to view diplomacy with the United States primarily as a tool for forestalling and delaying U.S. pressure over a period of years while China moves ever further down the path of developing its own economic, military and technological capabilities," the report said.

"The United States, the EU, and individual nations in both Europe and Asia all need to do much more, in collaboration with one another, to counter China’s aggressive policies overseas and continuing mercantilism at home."