President Joe Biden speaks at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress)Pennsylvania lawmakers lauded a Wednesday announcement from the Biden administration of a new joint effort from the U.S. and Mexico aimed at preventing China and other countries from evading tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.“Chinese steel and aluminum entering the U.S. market through Mexico evades tariffs, undermines our investments, and harms American workers in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio,” Lael Brainard, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said on a call with reporters.Brainard said tariffs will be levied through Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which covers imports considered a threat to U.S. national security. Steel and aluminum not melted or poured in Mexico would be subject to tariffs of 25% and 10%, respectively.According to Biden administration officials, the U.S. imported 3.8 million tons of steel from Mexico last year, 13% of which was poured or melted elsewhere. Of the 105,000 metric tons of aluminum the U.S. imported from Mexico last year, 94% was smelted or cast in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, and the remaining 6% was cast in four countries: China, Russia, Belarus and Iran, administration officials said.“Western Pennsylvania and our people made the steel that built America, but bad trade policies tried to strip our region for parts and ship solid, union jobs overseas,” U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17th District) said in a statement Wednesday. “President Biden’s announcement today takes dead aim at Communist China’s exploitation of loopholes that allowed foreign steel and aluminum into the country through Mexico, undercutting our workers and industries here at home.”During an April campaign stop in Pittsburgh, President Joe Biden called for raising the 7.5% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum imports by nearly triple, and said his administration would apply new pressure on Mexico to prevent China from shipping metals to the U.S. through its ports. Also in April, the office of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai launched an investigation into the Chinese shipbuilding industry.“For too long, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese steel companies,” Biden said in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating.”U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), along with Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was among a group of seven Democratic senators who urged the Biden administration to “maintain or increase the tariffs to address China’s continued actions to cheat and undermine our national security.” On Wednesday, Casey called the Wednesday announcement “a victory for Pennsylvania workers and our Nation’s steel industry.”The tariffs took effect on Wednesday.The post Pa. lawmakers praise Biden administration tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum routed via Mexico appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.First published by Pennsylvania Capital-Star.