WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The Biden-Harris

administration this week is expected to announce final

implementation plans for steep tariff increases on certain

Chinese imports, and if U.S. industry gets its way, many of the

planned duties would be softened.

Manufacturers from electric vehicles to electric utility

equipment have asked for the higher tariff rates to be reduced,

delayed or abandoned, and for potential exclusions to be greatly

expanded.

President Joe Biden in May announced a quadrupling of

tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100%, a doubling of

duties on semiconductors and solar cells to 50%, as well as new

25% tariffs on lithium-ion batteries and other strategic goods

including steel to shield U.S. firms from Chinese excess

production.

The White House had said initially the new tariffs would

take effect on Aug. 1 but that was delayed until some time in

September as the U.S. Trade Representative's office studied more

than 1,100 public comments. A final determination is due by the

end of August.

Whether to ease the tariffs is the administration's first

major trade decision since Vice President Kamala Harris emerged

as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee after Biden

stepped aside in late July.

The decision is politically tricky. Dialing back the duties

could draw criticism from Republicans that Harris will take a

softer stand on China trade in a campaign where Trump has vowed

to hit Chinese imports with hefty tariffs. Proceeding with the

original hikes would draw complaints about higher costs, even

from some Democrats in Congress.

China has

vowed retaliation

against the "bullying" tariff hikes and Foreign Minister

Wang Yi said they showed that some in the U.S. may be "losing

their minds."

The U.S. decision will come in the same week that U.S.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan

will meet with Wang

in a visit aimed at keeping U.S.-China tensions in check

with the November U.S. election fast approaching.

CRANES AND SYRINGES

The Biden-Harris tariffs include a new 25% levy on

Chinese-made ship-to-shore cranes, a China-dominated sector with

no U.S. producers. The Port of New York and New Jersey said it

has eight cranes on order from China's state-owned ZPMC at $18

million apiece, and a 25% tariff would boost the cost of each by

$4.5 million, "causing a significant strain on the Port's

critical and limited resources."

Democratic senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner from Virginia

and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff from Georgia also raised

concerns about the impact on ports in their states, calling for

existing orders for Chinese cranes to be exempted.

Warnock and Ossoff also urged USTR to reconsider the planned

50% tariff on syringes, saying they could disrupt supplies for

those used to feed newborn infants.

Ford Motor ( F ) asked USTR to reduce proposed tariffs on

artificial graphite, a key material used in the production of

anodes for electric vehicle batteries. Ford said it still

"almost exclusively" uses Chinese secondary-particle graphite,

Autos Drive America, a group representing foreign-brand

automakers, called for tariff rates on batteries, modules,

cells, and critical minerals to be kept stable through at least

2027 to allow automakers to "fulfill investments in U.S.

production and to bolster consumer adoption" of EVs.

EXTEND STEEL DUTIES

There were some companies that urged more extensive Section

301 tariffs, including for Chinese made steel, which Biden

proposed to increase to 25% from 7.5%.

Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu, which

operates a mill in Alabama, said it supported the increase and

wants it extended to all steel products melted and poured in

China and processed in other countries, such as Vietnam, to curb

tariff circumvention.

The steelmaker also said the higher tariffs should extend to

other stainless steel categories, such cutlery and refrigeration

and brewery equipment.

(Reporting by David Lawder, with additional reporting by David

Shepardson; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)