By David Lawder
ELIZABETHTOWN, Kentucky (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said President Joe Biden’s administration is taking steps to ensure the success of its domestic electric vehicle (EV) industry in the face of China’s growing exports in the sector and heavy government subsidies.
Asked whether the United States needs new tariffs on Chinese EVs, Yellen told reporters at a new battery materials plant in Kentucky: “I don’t want to get ahead of where we are, but it is a commitment that President Biden has made … that we’re going to want our domestic industry to be successful.”
U.S.
tariffs of 25% on all Chinese vehicles imposed by former President Donald Trump effectively keeps Chinese EVs out of the U.S. market for now, but China’s largest producer, BYD, has started to export to Mexico and is scouting locations for a Mexican factory.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Will Dunham)
