[applause] >> mr. president, trump said today -- [applause] mr. president?

>> u.s. trade representative catherine took reporters questions on president biden's new tariff announcements on chinese imports. she explained they were intended to fight china's unfair trade practices and were part of the president's plan to build up u.s. manufacturing and supply chain.

, everyone. president biden has consistently been clear that he will take action to defend american workers and businesses from the unfair trade practices of the people's republic of china. today, he is once again keeping that promise. president biden and i both know that american workers and businesses can outcompete anyone as long as the competition is fair. but for too long the prc has

been playing by a different set of rules with unfair and anticompetitive economic practices. those unfair practices include forced technology transfer, including cyber hacking and cyber theft. nonmarket policies such as targeting industrial sectors for dominance, labor rights oppression and weaken environmental protection. and flooding markets worldwide with artificially cheap products that wipe out the competition. the president's action today as a part of his vision to rebuild our supply chains and our ability to make things in america. to lower costs, outcompete the prc, and encourage the elimination of practices that undercut american workers and businesses. we are doing that by investing in manufacturing and clean energy here at home, and raising tariffs to protect these investments. i conducted a statutory review

of the prc's forced technology transfer and other intellectual property related practices, which were the subject of the 2018 section 301 investigation. in that review i found that the prc continues to deploy these unfair trade practices. and i conveyed my findings to the president in a report, which is available on the ustr website. it is clear that the previous administration's trade deal with the prc failed to increase american exports or boost manufacturing. china's exports in some critical sectors like tv's and batteries actually increased. in response, president biden today signed a memorandum directing me to increase tariffs on critical manufacturing and mining sectors. including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, solar cells, and certain critical minerals. the increased tariffs are

expected to cover approximately $18 billion of trade. the president also directed a process to request excluding certain production machinery from the tariffs to permit solar and clean manufacturers to purchase equipment while diversifying their suppliers. next week i expect to issue a public notice that conveys this specific tariff minds, tariff rates, and timing for the proposed increases, along with the details of the machinery inclusion process. this strong action by the president is strategic as he has said we do not seek to constrain china's economic development, but we will insist on fair competition and defend american workers from the prc's unfair practices. today's direction by the president defends american workers and businesses from the prc's artificially cheap products, whether ev's, steel,

critical minerals are semiconductors. i also want to emphasize that we continue to consult with our partners and our allies who face similar threats from the prc's unfair trade practices and are also voicing their concerns with those unfair practices and taking action. our partners are essential to addressing the broader threat to our working families and businesses. today's strong tariff announcement is an important part of president biden's workers center trade policy, which is about using trade to empower workers and making sure that they can compete fairly and thrive and support the historic investments we have already made here at home. i can now take your questions. >> thank you, ambassador. tariffs will cause the competition to this slide into conflict with china. if you could explain a little

bit about why you are so confident. secondly, pyd has been looking to build ev factories in mexico that could flood the u.s. market. why has the administration preemptively announced these vehicles? >> you actually asked two questions. let me begin with the first, which is that, we have been very, very clear about the strategic nature of this tariff review process and the focus on ensuring that the actions that are announced will be affected in leveling the playing field giving our workers and businesses the chance to continue to compete and to thrive against an onslaught of really, really challenging measures in a challenging economic system that is coming from beijing. we have been clear about this with the american public. we have been equally clear about this with our counterparts in beijing. every single one of us from the

president on down, over the course of the last three years have made clear the challenges we are facing, the nature of that challenge and the need for us to act. because we know what happens if we don't act and we don't defend, we will see the same patterns repeated over and over again. so, what we are viewing today should by no means be a surprise to our counterparts in beijing. we have made clear this is not about escalation. this is about the consequences of decades of economic policy and the need for the united states to descend rights. in the second question was, on ev's and pyd in mexico. at ustr, that's what we are built to be worried about and concerned with. that will require a separate pathway. this is about imports from china. where you are talking about would be imports from mexico.

something we are talking about our industry, workers in our partners about and i would ask you to stay tuned. >> trump tariffs lead to increased prices on enough customers. how can you be sure the same thing will happen again? >> i think the link in terms of tariffs to prices have been largely debunked. what i would say is the president has obstructed that we do is to focus on making our supply chains more resilient. we need more options. here in america we need to have more manufacturing capacity. resilient supply chain means we will be able to insulate the american economy from the price spikes and inflationary dynamics that we have seen that have come primarily from the supply chain challenges we have experience. first from the pandemic,

russia's invasion of ukraine. if you think back to march of 2020 and he think about how much a face mask costs, it's a trick question. the answer is, you did not have enough money to buy a face mask because there weren't enough of the world to go around. it's that in mind that these actions are being taken will address the challenges that no one wants to experience. >> the u.s. government is subsidizing the ev industry pretty significantly, how is that different than what the chinese government is doing? >> if you take a look at the chinese economic model, what you see is a system of state support that is built to dominate and take over entire industries. this is what i mean by we have seen the pattern. steel and aluminum, solar panels, batteries, ev's. today, china's production cap --

capacity in steele, 55 percent in road capacity in one country. aluminium, 60%. ev's, 60%. solar, 80%. in certain minerals, 85% to 90%. those are subsidies with an aim to cornering the world market and achieving dominance in creating dependency. the types of support that we are talking about here are defensive in nature, they are about creating the space to compete, the space to thrive, the space to survive the kind of onslaught we see across the board. >> the president signaled to president xi and the most conversation that this might be happening soon? >> from president xi, secretary yellen, secretary blinken, in my own engagements with counterparts from beijing we have been very, very clear about

the sobriety with which we approach the u.s.-china trade and economic relationship. he needs to be fair. i did offer my counterpart the courtesy of a notification. this customs -- this should not come as a surprise to our counterparts in beijing. it's a pre-notification. >> these new tariffs were seen as targeted and strategic but they are keeping it in place for goods which by itself that in 2019 which americans are paying. why not make that decision to keep it in place and aren't you concerned it will keep it elevated. >> in terms of the price that americans paid for in the previous era, may be a lot of it was about the chaos and unpredictability that it created in the escalation that resulted.

secondly, i think i am a trade lawyer by training and we are deep into the technical issues. the review we undertook required us to look at a couple questions. one was the effect of the practices on our economy. and there you have our response, which is a targeted, strategic response meant to work together with the investments we are making. the other aspect we have to look at was the effect of the tariffs on changing china's behavior with respect to the ipr in the forced tech transfer. there, the findings in my report, which you can find on the ustr website, it's a series report that not only have we not seen the problematic practices supplied in some areas, we have seen them get worse. there is actually no reason for us, no justification to

relieving the tariff burden on the trade with beijing. >> what you say with high tariffs on chinese ev's and you're leaving american consumers with fewer options in that china is creating very cheap bbs with cars? >> i think what you have to do is remember and revisit the story and show that we have been a part of for the last several decades. which is as you allowed china to dominate the supply and production in these industries, here are choices actually made for you. you have fewer choices and our entire economies from consumer workers and all the way up to government susceptible to the kind of choral version that we have seen from a government that was willing to weaponize the dependencies that it has created when a partner does something that it does not like politically. >> on mexico you said stay

tuned. our views saying there could be changes to the u.s. rules and to the law that would allow the u.s. to have tariffs on goods in china that originated in mexico or other countries? >> i'm saying the fact pattern that is developing is one of can see it -- of serious concern. a u.s. care, we are looking at all of our tools to see how we can address the problem. >> any news on elaborating on the problem? >> this is in election year, why did it take three years to impose these tariffs? >> this is where i put my lawyer hat back on. under the 301 statute, in the fourth year of the tariffs, if there is a stakeholder that is benefiting from the tariffs who asked us to keep them, we keep them. that is what happened in 2022 because the tariffs went on in

2018. we started a process, we opened up a portal that was open in the end of 2022 to the bitterroot -- to the very beginning of 2023. we wanted to hear from all of our stakeholders, their views on the tariffs, the pros and the cons, please inform us. that elicited about 1600 comments. so the beginning of 2023. then we started a whole government interagency review within the biden administration. that process has taken us to do today and the unveiling of this finalize package. >> it took three years to figure out the chinese were flooding the market and stealing technology? it's pretty evident they have been doing that all along. >> it took a year and a half for the course of the review. you will see the amount of care that we put into our

investigation and our findings. yes, there continues to be problems. for this administration it is extremely important that we approach a relationship like the one between the u.s. and china in these issues around the industries in the jobs of the future with discipline. that's what takes so long, the design on the architecture of the tariffs defense system that you will see. >> quote us, -- quotas. the trump administration impose quotas. that's coming in from canada and mexico. could there be the same policy related to ev's? >> i think i will just rely on the answer i provided before, which is, stay tuned. >> did you also come to the part that donald trump is very critical to the move that president biden made today calling it a weekend futile

attempt basically saying too little, too late. what's your response to that? >> i would just say that this action -- thank you. i appreciate that. i am subject to that. what i would do is interpret your question to mean, or maybe i should ask you to rephrase your question. >> how do you respond to the criticism that these tariffs are not enough and comes too late. those are coming clearly from former president donald trump. >> again, let me just say, in general, with respect to criticism that these tariffs might not be strong, let me put it this way, we have put a lot of heart and a lot of effort, intellectual effort, economic effort, in consultation effort into this package.

they are designed to be strategic to and not chaotic. they are designed to be effective and not emotional. >> you said the president has been consistent on his issues but in 2019 when he was a candidate, he said in a freshman economic student could tell you people are paying his tariffs, according to him at the time. and he called it senseless policies. why did he change his mind? >> i will reject the assertion that he changed his mind. what he has been clear about is his commitment to america, america's workers, america's manufacturing capabilities and resilience. a future from our economy built from the middle out in the bottom up. these tariffs are tools.

this is something that we feel very strongly about because they are tools, they are tools of trade. when used strategically and smartly, they can be powerful forces for economic strength and development and that is what you are seeing. >> are they no longer --? >> i think you have to separate out the tool itself and perhaps how it's being used and whether or not they are part -- articulated for a particular purpose. >> who are the big losers here? there was an international trade commission or last year that essentially said that. >> i think the itc report is not as long as our report. i would encourage you to take another look at it because a lot of what people think it's that is not what it said. in terms of the methodology that the itc use, it is very clear

that there were positive impacts of the tariffs on the specific industries that were being covered by it. let me just back up to the frame of your question. i think it comes down to this, the president has committed to america's workers and industries of the future, a bright future. and we are going to use all of the tools at our disposal, trade tools in combination with the investments that we have made in the commitments the president has for standing up to american and economic interest to make that happen. >> c-span's washington journal, a live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington, d.c. and across the country.

coming up wednesday morning, jacob of inset elections discusses key senate races for campaign 2024 that will determine control of the senate. then maryland's democratic congressman glenn ivey on the israel-hamas war, u.s. aid to israel and black voters in 2020 four campaign. the international association of chief of police president talks about national police week and the association's priority. c-span's washington journal, join in the conversation live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning on c-span, c-span now are free mobile app or online at c-span.org. >> on wednesday, federal officials testify on the ongoing investigation into the collapse of baltimore's francis scott key bridge. watch the house transportation and infrastructure committee live at 10:00 ame eastern on c-span, c-span now our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org.

>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers and we are just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> former president donald trump kwuex lawyer michael cohen gave testimony and the hush money trial. he accused the former president of covering up the payment to stormy daniels by filing at is it legal expense when reimbursing mr. cohen, who claims he made the initial transaction with his