USTR Tai: We Have To Take Early, Decisive Action On China Overcapacity

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said, in testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on President Biden 2024 trade agenda, that the US has to take "decisive" action to counter China's overcapacity in electric vehicles, solar panel, and other clean energy goods.

• Tai says that the US has faced China's "unfair trade practices" in the past, "that brought world prices down so far that no one could compete or survive."
• Tai: "We know that we are facing this again on autos and EVs [electric vehicles], we have to take action. Leaving these types of policies unchecked... we're going to lose the capacity to produce and compete... so we have to take early action, decisive action..."
• Tai: "For all the talk about free trade being the ideal it is a beautiful concept but it is also a beautiful dream because the world economy is not characterised by free trade."
• President Biden is scheduled to give a speech in Pittsburg, PA at around 13:45 ET 18:45 BST where he will preview a new White House proposal to triple tariffs on some Chinese steel and aluminium exports.
• The proposal will likely be part of a broader set of initiatives to be unveiled in the coming months to press China restrain its overcapacity. The White House proposal is also likely part of a broader strategy to outflank former President Donald Trump's punitive tariff proposals and firm up union support in critical manufacturing states.