US President Joe Biden plans to triple the US tariffs on certain steel and aluminium imports from China.
He has asked his trade representative to take the appropriate steps to achieve this, the White House announced in Washington on Wednesday.
US workers are exposed to unfair competition due to the import of Chinese products, the statement said. The products are also among the most emission-intensive in the world.
The current average tariff rate is 7.5%, a rate that dates back to the presidency of Biden's predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.
Also on Wednesday, the office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that an investigation into Chinese trade practices in the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors would be launched following a petition from five US trade unions. Steel is a particularly critical component in shipbuilding.
"The petition presents serious and concerning allegations of [China's] longstanding efforts to dominate the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, cataloguing [China's] use of unfair, non-market policies and practices to achieve those goals," Tai said.
The allegations reflect what is already known in other sectors - namely that China uses "a wide range of non-market policies and practices to undermine fair competition and dominate the market, both in China and globally."
Biden is campaigning this week in the US state of Pennsylvania, which is historically known for its steel industry - Pittsburgh in the west of the state is nicknamed the "Steel City."