Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned that the U.S. would think about implementing tariffs and other trade barriers on China to safeguard industries affected by Beijing’s increased production.
“We are trying to support an industry in, for example, solar cells, electric batteries, electric vehicles,” Yellen said Wednesday in Alaska during a stopover before going to China, according to Axios.
“I wouldn’t want to rule out other possible ways in which we would protect them,” she said.
Yellen’s comments indicate the Biden administration’s readiness to diminish the economic impact of what they say is China flooding the global market with cheaper products and reducing demand for other products from competing nations.
Yellen stated that China has triggered “massive investment” in some industries where production is increasing, but demand has not fully followed.
“We’re concerned that Chinese subsidies to these industries are impacting the United States and other nations as well,” Yellen added, noting that besides the U.S., other countries like Japan, Mexico and European countries are also experiencing the effects.
This is her second visit to China in less than a year. It comes after President Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping had a discussion this week.
She previously said that China’s increased production of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar energy presents unfair competition that “distorts global prices” and adversely affects U.S. companies and workers.
In the lead-up to the trip, she said she would “press my Chinese counterparts to take necessary steps to address this issue.”
