That raises the question of why there is not more support for removing tariffs if so many Americans believe they are raising prices. One argument is that nobody wants to jeopardize U.S. national security. Republican and Democratic administrations alike have cited national security concerns as justification for widening the aperture of exemptions to unrestricted trade to include climate change, public health, energy security, and other issues. The Biden administration, for example, maintained most of President Trump’s first-term tariffs with a few exceptions. Increased Section 301 tariffs on China were explained as critical to supporting “strategic sectors,” including batteries, critical minerals, electric vehicles, ship-to-shore cranes, solar cells, semiconductors, and steel and aluminum. For most of Biden’s term, U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports were around 19 percent, lower than the 35.2 percent in August 2026 but much higher than the 3.1 percent in January 2018.
