The rapid growth of the biomanufacturing and bioeconomy sector has positioned it as a critical part of the global economy, with applications spanning food, chemicals, agriculture, energy, and defense materials. As the United States strives to maintain its competitive edge and secure its supply chains, addressing the increasing dominance of China in the biomanufacturing industry is crucial. This white paper proposes implementing targeted tariffs on Biomanufactured products imported from China to protect the U.S. biomanufacturing industry, safeguard national security interests, and promote domestic innovation, and competitiveness for a secure bioeconomy. Significant federal investments through the Inflation Reduction Act and the President's Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy highlight the renewable chemicals sector as the next critical frontier. The Biden Administration has extended the Trump Administration's policies, garnering bipartisan support for tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 100% on various industrial products from China. Despite these tariffs, the government must do more to protect biomanufacturing sector to safeguarding U.S. businesses from unfair competition and mitigating supply chain risks, especially where no domestic producers exist for certain bio ingredients crucial in manufacturing biofuels includes sustainable aviation fuels, food, beverage, biomaterials, and pharmaceutical products. Therefore, AFCC and its member companies propose a range of 60% to 100% tariff on biomanufactured products from China.
