Beijing, China - Representatives in China have slammed the Biden administration for increasing tariffs on solar panel components as piling "errors onto errors" and hurting consumers in the US.

On Wednesday last week, the US Trade Representative's office announced a new round of tariff increases as part of a review into sanctions introduced by President-elect Donald Trump during his first term.

Specifically, Washington will double rates for solar wafers and polysilicon to 50% per month and will introduce tariffs of 25% on certain tungsten products that were previously unaffected by Trump's sanctions.

"The tariff increases announced today will further blunt the harmful policies and practices by the People’s Republic of China," Ambassador Katherine Tai was quoted as saying in a press release from the Office of the US Trade Representative.

China US imposes trade curbs on Chinese and Russian firms over human rights violations

"These actions will complement the domestic investments made under the Biden-Harris Administration to promote a clean energy economy, while increasing the resilience of critical supply chains."

In response, China's Ministry of Commerce hit back, on Monday saying that the tariff hikes "pile errors onto errors" and will "harm the interests of US consumers."

"The US tariff measures will not only fail to resolve the US trade deficit and industrial competitiveness issues, but will also push up domestic inflation in the United States," a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.

Beijing's statement said that the moves would "undermine" the global trade order, damage economic and industrial stability, and have serious security implications.

Specifically, the Chinese commerce ministry threatened to take measures "to defend its own rights and interests" and implored the US to "correct its wrong practices" and "cancel" the tariff hikes.

In a press conference this morning, China's Ministry of Commerce slammed unilateral tariffs but said that it had been in touch with the US department of commerce team in preparation for a second Trump White House.

"China consistently opposes unilateral tariffs," a spokesperson said. "China is ready to strengthen dialogue and coordination with the U.S., properly manage differences, and promote the steady and long-term development of bilateral economic and trade relations."