A group of United States senators, including Marco Rubio, a Republican federal senator from Florida, have jointly sent a letter to President Biden this week proposing to prevent Chinese manufacturers from evading US tariffs by setting up factories in countries like Mexico, Vietnam, or Malaysia.
In the letter addressed to Biden on Tuesday, the senators mentioned that “Communist China is relocating its manufacturing to Mexico to evade US tariffs and benefit from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).”
“It is crucial to ensure that goods produced by China in Mexico are not eligible for duty-free entry into the United States and to increase import duties on Mexican steel,” the senators wrote.
They also pointed out, “Congress passed the free trade agreement with Mexico, not with China. Immediate action must be taken to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from exploiting the USMCA and weaponizing this crucial trade agreement.”
“At the same time, we must work with the Mexican government to ensure that our trade partnership is built not only on the basis of geographical proximity but also on a common goal of protecting employment opportunities in North American manufacturing from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
The letter, led by Rubio, the Chief Republican Member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, was co-signed by Republican Senator Mike Braun from Indiana, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio, and Democratic Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, and was sent to Biden. The letter was also published on Rubio’s official Senate website.
According to Reuters, Rubio proposed legislation in March to impose higher tariffs on Chinese automakers producing cars in countries like Mexico.
Officials in the Biden administration have also expressed concerns about Chinese companies trying to build factories in other countries to evade tariffs. A US manufacturing advocacy group warned in February that importing cars produced by Chinese automakers in Mexico could “ultimately spell disaster for the American automotive industry.”
The US Trade Representative’s office finalized last week a significant increase in tariffs on imported Chinese goods, including imposing a 100% tariff on electric cars, in order to strengthen protection for strategic industries in the United States and shield them from China’s state-driven industry practices.
In July, the United States and Mexico announced new measures to combat trade practices by China and some other countries, who ship goods to the US via Mexico to avoid US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.