President Joe Biden on Tuesday rejected criticism from Donald Trump that China was eating the United States economically, saying he was actually the one “feeding them.”
After Biden signed off on tariffs for some Chinese goods, including a 100% tariff on their electric vehicles, a reporter asked the president about Trump, his presumptive Republican opponent in the 2024 presidential election, saying “China is eating our lunch.”
“He’s been feeding them a long time,” Biden said about Trump.
Biden’s actions Tuesday actually built on Trump’s tariffs. Biden, who initially promised to repeal some of them, announced sharp tariffs on goods, including solar cells, semiconductors, and advanced batteries, in order to combat China. He said China was unfairly throttling the markets with their low prices and hurting American industries and manufacturers. The increased tariffs will apply to about $18 billion worth of annual imports from China, according to the White House, and increase tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by 75%.
Biden had previously characterized Trump’s tariffs as taxes on the American people, but these targeted ones are not expected to have much of an impact on inflation.
