.jpg?20241225')
The Biden administration yesterday announced a last-minute trade investigation into Chinese-made ‘legacy’ semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from autos to washing machines to telecoms gear.
The ‘Section 301’ probe, launched just four weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, will be handed over to his administration in January for completion, Biden administration officials said.
The effort could offer Trump a ready avenue to begin imposing some of the hefty, 60 per cent tariffs that he has threatened on Chinese imports.
Departing President Joe Biden has already imposed a 50pc US tariff on Chinese semiconductors that starts on Jan. 1. His administration has tightened export curbs on advanced AI and memory chips and chipmaking equipment to China and also recently increased tariffs to 50pc on Chinese solar wafers and polysilicon.
The US Trade Representative’s office, which will conduct the new probe, said it is aimed at protecting American and other market-driven chip producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that the trade agency has found evidence that Beijing is targeting the semiconductor industry for global domination, similar to its buildup in steel, aluminum, solar panels, electric vehicles and critical minerals.
“This is enabling its companies to rapidly expand capacity and to offer artificially lower priced chips that threaten to significantly harm and potentially eliminate their market-oriented competition,” she said on a conference call.
&uuid=(email))