[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CHINA

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today, President Biden announced he is 
taking new steps to protect U.S. workers and put the Chinese Communist 
Party on notice with a new round of tariffs on goods vital for 
America's economic future.
  I commend President Biden for standing up for American workers and 
making it clear to the CCP that they will face the consequences for 
their trade abuses. Fighting the CCP's unfair trade practices is 
something I have cared about for a very long time. It was one of the 
very first issues I focused on when I first visited Upstate New York as 
a Senator and saw for myself jobs leaving the shores. The CCP has shown 
that they will stop at nothing to steal our intellectual property and 
undermine our economy.
  When I met with President Xi during my codel last fall, I pointedly 
confronted him about the Chinese Government's history of trade abuses 
and said we need to create a more even-leveled playing field.
  Today's tariffs are thus a good step towards reversing America's 
trade imbalance and protect U.S. production of everything from 
batteries to solar cells to semiconductors to steel and aluminum.
  I am particularly pleased that President Biden's tariffs will boost 
American EVs and clean energy manufacturing. With all the investments 
we Democrats made in the Inflation Reduction Act to boost EV 
manufacturing--something I care a lot about and worked hard for--it 
would be terrible for America's roads to become saturated with EVs made 
in China, and these tariffs will help prevent that. We have taken major 
steps to reverse the ossification of U.S. manufacturing with the 
infrastructure law, the IRA, and Chips and Science, but the President's 
tariffs are also a critical part of the solution.

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