Biden Shades Trump As Presidential Rivals Clash Over China Tariffs

Graeme Demianyk
·2 min read
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President Joe Biden won plaudits on social media for his response to former President Donald Trump as the pair clashed over a crackdown on Chinese imports to protect American manufacturers.

On Tuesday, the White House announced a round of tariffs against a variety of Chinese goods, building on levies introduced by the Trump administration, in an effort to make certain imports more expensive for U.S. consumers.

American importers of Chinese solar panels, batteries, semiconductors and permanent magnets will have to pay a 25% tax when bringing them into the country. Chinese electric vehicles will face a 100% tax.

Early in the day, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, ranted about the new policy ahead of his latest day in court for his hush money trial. Arguing that he wanted to go further than Biden, Trump said: “China’s eating our lunch.”

Biden, asked about the “eating our lunch” comment after he signed the order implementing the new tariffs, said that Trump has been “feeding them a long time.”

While it’s not clear precisely what Biden was referring to, Trump has shown some sympathy for the Chinese regime. Last year, Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “brilliant man.” He told Fox News: “If you went all over Hollywood to look for somebody to play the role of President Xi, you couldn’t find it. There’s nobody like that. The look, the brain, the whole thing.”

Many people on social media seemed to appreciate the president’s punchy tone. One user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: “We need more of this unapologetic President Biden.”

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