U.S. president Joe Biden’s administration announced December 11 it will double tariffs on some solar panel components made in China, according to The Hill.

Starting January 1, less than three weeks before Biden leaves the White House, imports of Chinese solar wafers and polysilicon will carry a 50% tariff, up from the current levy of 25%. Polysilicon is a type of silicon that is used to make solar panels, while wafers are the semiconductors used in the panels. In addition, tariffs will increase on certain Chinese products made out of the mineral tungsten, which has applications in the aerospace, automotive, defense, medical, and oil and gas industries. 

“The tariff increases announced today will further blunt the harmful policies and practices by the People’s Republic of China,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a written statement. “These actions will complement the domestic investments made under the Biden-Harris Administration to promote a clean energy economy, while increasing the resilience of critical supply chains,” Tai added. 

The USTR statement explained that the tariff increases announced December 11 had been proposed as part of the statutory review of the tariff actions in the Section 301 investigation of the People’s Republic of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.  These modifications conclude the statutory review. 

In the USTR Report on the statutory review, the U.S. Trade Representative found that, while the PRC had changed some specific unfair measures, the PRC’s harmful forced technology transfer practices – in particular its cyber theft and industrial espionage – have continued, and in some instances, worsened. The findings of the four-year review can be found on USTR’s website. 

Biden’s successor in the White House, Donald Trump, has threatened to massively increase import tariffs across the board, with 25% levies against Mexico and Canada, but more punitive rates of 60-100% tariffs against all imports from China.