The Biden administration’s recent action to raise tariffs on strategic goods imported from China has raised both praise and sharp critiques. Most critiques fall into two categories, with some lamenting the tariffs as an affront to the supposed free-trade ethos of the past, arguing that tariffs would lead to higher inflation or higher prices, or both. Others have noted the apparent contradiction between the administration’s push to address the climate crisis by accelerating a green transition to cleaner technologies and the potentially slower deployment that comes with higher costs.

Upon closer inspection, these critiques do not hold up. Instead, what emerges is an administration committed to ensuring that American workers remain at the forefront of the world’s transition to a cleaner future and one that fully understands the need for climate action to remain politically sustainable and resilient.

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