President Biden doubled down today on his commitments to revive U.S. manufacturing and American industrial unions. Each action involves taking an even stronger stance against China’s illicit manufacturing subsidies.

Biden chose the Pittsburgh headquarters of the United Steelworkers to announce a tripling of U.S. tariff rates against heavily subsidized Chinese steel and aluminum. Biden also announced that he has directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to launch an investigation of China’s effort to dominate global shipbuilding. That investigation is in response to a petition by five unions.

And he added, in a commitment not previewed in the briefing materials, "U.S. Steel has been an iconic American company for more than a century. And it’s going to remain an American company. I promise you."

That should effectively kill the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, which is being reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. But the final decision is Biden’s.

In 2022, China built almost half of all the world’s ships. South Korea came in second with 29 percent, and Japan in third with 17 percent. Meanwhile, the United States built just 0.13 percent.

The U.S. used to have an extensive program to promote shipbuilding for both defense and commercial purposes. This was shut down in the 1980s in the name of imagined free trade, while the world’s leading shipbuilding nations continue to subsidize their industries to this day.

Shipbuilding of course uses a great deal of steel and aluminum, and creates thousands of good domestic industrial jobs. Though Trump talked a good game on reviving U.S. shipbuilding, he failed to deliver anything.

Toward the end of his second term, President Obama’s long-range shipbuilding plan identified a goal of a 355-ship Navy. And in 2017, Congress passed a law commiting to that target. But Trump’s Defense Department did not even release a plan until after he was defeated for re-election in 2020. And in the meantime, Trump raided almost a billion dollars from Navy shipbuilding accounts to help pay for his border wall.

Biden’s action today comes on the heels of an administration announcement last month to put $6 billion into 33 green-energy projects in 20 states that will also create tens of thousands of good manufacturing jobs.

Yesterday, Lael Brainard, head of the National Economic Council, told reporters, "In manufacturing sectors like steel, China’s already producing more than China or the world can easily absorb. China’s subsidies and other forms of support lead to exports flooding global markets at artificially low prices, undercutting American steel that is cleaner."

Though Biden’s actions could help attract voters in key manufacturing states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, it’s wrong to dismiss these moves as election-year stunts. Since day one of his presidency, Biden has been entirely serious about rebuilding U.S. manufacturing, containing China, embracing unions, and reversing corporate "free trade," and those commitments have only grown.

Trump and other Republicans claim to be the friends of working people. But on China, Trump’s bluster was not matched by industrial policies to help Americans.

Not since FDR have industrial workers and unions had a better friend than Joe Biden. Amid all the noise about polls and perceptions, that reality needs to shine through.