WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden

on Tuesday unveiled a bundle of steep tariff increases on an

array of Chinese imports including electric vehicle (EV)

batteries, computer chips and medical products, risking an

election-year standoff with Beijing in a bid to woo voters who

give his economic policies low marks.

China immediately vowed retaliation. Its commerce ministry

said Beijing was opposed to the U.S. tariff hikes and would take

measures to defend its interests, urging the United States to

cancel the measures.

Biden will keep tariffs put in place by his Republican

predecessor Donald Trump while ratcheting up others, including a

quadrupling of EV duties to over 100% and doubling the duties on

semiconductor tariffs to 50%, the White House said in a

statement. It cited "unacceptable risks" to U.S. economic

security posed by what it considers unfair Chinese practices

that are flooding global markets with cheap goods.

The new measures affect $18 billion in imported Chinese

goods including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric

vehicles, critical minerals, solar cells and cranes, the White

House said.

The announcement confirmed earlier Reuters reporting.

The United States imported $427 billion in goods from China

in 2023 and exported $148 billion to the world's No. 2 economy,

according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a trade gap that has

persisted for decades and become an ever more sensitive subject

in Washington.

"China's using the same playbook it has before to power its

own growth at the expense of others by continuing to invest,

despite excess Chinese capacity and flooding global markets with

exports that are underpriced due to unfair practices," Biden

economic adviser Lael Brainard told reporters on a conference

call.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the revised

tariffs were justified because China was stealing U.S.

intellectual property. But Tai recommended tariff exclusions for

hundreds of industrial machinery import categories from China,

including 19 for solar product manufacturing equipment.

Financial market reaction was muted. U.S. stock index

futures were little changed. The announcement came after Chinese

markets closed for the day, but in U.S. premarket trading shares

of Chinese EV makers Li Auto ( LI ) and Xpeng ( XPEV ) were

around 3% lower. Treasury yields were fairly flat, suggesting

little worry that the move would aggravate U.S. consumer price

pressures.

FREE TRADE NO MORE

Even as Biden's steps fell in line with Trump's premise

that tougher trade measures are warranted, the Democrat took aim

at his opponent in November's election.

The White House said Trump's 2020 trade deal with China did

not increase American exports or boost American manufacturing

jobs, and it said the 10% across-the-board tariffs on goods from

all points of origin that Trump has proposed would frustrate

U.S. allies and raise prices. Trump has floated tariffs of 60%

or higher on all Chinese goods.

Administration officials said their measures are "carefully

targeted," combined with domestic investment, plotted with close

allies and unlikely to worsen a bout of inflation that has

already angered U.S. voters and imperiled Biden's re-election

bid.

Biden has struggled to convince voters of the efficacy of

his economic policies despite a backdrop of low unemployment and

above-trend economic growth. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month

showed Trump had a 7 percentage-point edge over Biden on the

economy.

Analysts have warned that a trade tiff could raise costs for

EVs overall, hurting Biden's climate goals and his aim to create

manufacturing jobs.

Biden has said he wants to win this era of competition with

China but not to launch a trade war. He has worked in recent

months to ease tensions in one-on-one talks with Chinese

President Xi Jinping.

Both 2024 U.S. presidential candidates have departed from

the free-trade consensus that once reigned in Washington, a

period capped by China's joining the World Trade Organization in

2001. Trump's broader imposition of tariffs during his 2017-2021

presidency kicked off a tariff war with China.

As part of the long-awaited tariff update, Biden will

increase tariffs this year under Section 301 of the Trade Act of

1974 from 25% to 100% on EVs, bringing total duties to 102.5%,

from 7.5% to 25% on lithium-ion EV batteries and other battery

parts and from 25% to 50% on photovoltaic cells used to make

solar panels. Some critical minerals will have their tariffs

raised from nothing to 25%.

The tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes will rise to 25% from

zero, those on syringes and needles will rise to 50% from

nothing now and some personal protective equipment (PPE) used in

medical facilities will rise to 25% from as little as 0% now.

Shortages in PPE made largely in China hampered the United

States' COVID-19 response.

More tariffs will follow in 2025 and 2026 on semiconductors,

as well as lithium-ion batteries that are not used in electric

vehicles, graphite and permanent magnets as well as rubber

medical and surgical gloves.

A step Biden previously announced to raise tariffs on some

steel and aluminum products will take effect this year, the

White House said.

A number of lawmakers have called for massive hikes on

Chinese vehicle tariffs or an outright ban over data privacy

concerns. There are relatively few Chinese-made light-duty

vehicles being imported now.

The United Auto Workers, a politically important union that

endorsed Biden, said the tariff moves would ensure that "the

transition to electric vehicles is a just transition."