The Biden administration has slapped a 25 percent tariff on ship-to-shore cranes out of China amid a wider focus on U.S. port security and domestic manufacturing, alongside yet another shot at what President Joe Biden calls China’s “unfair trade practices.”

The crane tax is one of many new tariffs levied on Chinese exports by the White House, with the president also targeting steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells and medical products.

More from Sourcing Journal

• Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd Prep Return to Port of Baltimore

• Shein Says Its Getting Better, But Where's the Data?

• Canadian Port Foremen Could Join Railroads in Potential Strike Action

In a statement released Tuesday, President Biden said the 25 percent crane tariff will help protect U.S. manufacturers from China’s “unfair trade practices that have led to excessive concentration in the market.” He also emphasized a need for U.S. industrial capacity to produce port cranes with “trusted partners.”

Previously there were no tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes manufactured in China, but the attitude around them has changed over the past year amid concerns that they may pose a national security risk. Additionally, one Homeland Security official warned of the U.S.’s “overreliance” on the China-built technology, and foreign-owned equipment in general.

The state-owned Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) is estimated to have manufactured 80 percent of the ship-to-shore cranes in the U.S., tallying more than 200 in total. The company has come under heightened scrutiny over its affiliations with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and concerns that its equipment could be used as spying tools by China.

ZPMC wouldn’t be the only crane manufacturer that would be impacted by the tariffs. Another manufacturer, the Finland-based Konecranes, which is also building ship-to-store cranes in China for the Georgia Ports Authority, would feel the hear

The White House signed off on a $20 billion overhaul to beef up security at the U.S. ports, with a major part of the investment focusing on domestic crane production. Paceco, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japanese crane and shipping equipment manufacturer Mitsui, has been tasked with building new cranes for the ports—representing the first time in 30 years the technology will be manufactured in the U.S.

As part of Biden’s executive order, the U.S. Coast Guard will now be directed to mandate digital security requirements for the China-manufactured cranes.

Ship-to-shore cranes are integral to port operations, facilitating the movement of goods from vessels into the port.