SCRANTON, Pa. (NEWSnet/AP) — President Joe Biden is calling for a tripling of tariffs on steel from China to protect American producers from a flood of cheap imports, an announcement he planned to present Wednesday.

The remarks will be made as part of an afternoon address to steelworkers in Pennsylvania.

In addition to boosting steel tariffs, Biden also will seek to triple levies on Chinese aluminum. The current rate is 7.5% for both metals.

The administration also promised to pursue antidumping investigations against countries and importers that try to saturate existing markets with Chinese steel and said it was working with Mexico to ensure that Chinese companies can’t circumvent the tariffs by shipping steel there for subsequent export to the U.S.

“The president understands we must invest in American manufacturing. But we also have to protect those investments and those workers from unfair exports associated with China’s industrial overcapacity,” White House National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard said on a call with reporters.

The president is on a three-day Pennsylvania swing that began in Scranton on Tuesday and will include a visit to Philadelphia on Thursday.

Biden was born in Scranton and has made return visits frequently, including a lengthy visit to his childhood home on Tuesday. Before leaving for Pittsburgh, he also stopped on Wednesday morning by Zummo’s Cafe with the city’s mayor, Paige Cognetti, joked about the scones on offer and shook hands with customers.

His administration’s announcement on steel tariffs was cheered by the U.S. steelmakers even before Biden’s Pittsburgh speech.

Kevin Dempsey, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, accused China of disrupting “world markets both by subsidizing the production of steel and other products and by dumping those products in the U.S. and other markets.”

Still, the move is largely symbolic. The United States imported roughly $6.1 billion in steel products in the 12 months ending in February 2023 — but just 3% of those imports came from China, according to Census Bureau figures.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during a recent visit to China, warned against oversaturating the market with cheap goods, and said low-cost steel had “decimated industries across the world and in the United States.”

The Chinese, in turn, expressed grave concern over American trade and economic measures that restrict China, according to China’s official news agency. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also has an upcoming visit to China.

Also potentially shaking up the steel industry is Japanese Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. Biden said last month that he opposed the move.

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