Biden to meet with advisers on China tariffs, decision timing unclear

WASHINGTON: US Chief executive Joe Biden was due to discuss charges on Chinese imports with advisers upon Friday (Jul 8), but it was not clear when he would make a decision on whether to remove some duties to try to fight inflation, two people familiar with the deliberations said.

The White House meeting is one of several in recent weeks as Biden struggles to stability competing desires to use every lever possible to ease inflation and also to maintain pressure on China to try to earn concessions on Beijing’s state-driven economic policies.

The conversations surround the Section 301 tariffs enforced on some US$370 billion worth of Chinese imports simply by then-President Donald Trump in 2018 plus 2019 over China’s alleged theft people intellectual property.

Some in the administration, including Treasury Admin Janet Yellen, have got argued that many of those duties are “non-strategic” and raise costs for American customers and businesses. ALL OF US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has said the particular tariffs are “a significant piece of leverage” in the US-China business relationship.

Other sources close to the process have said that Biden will be taking his time to work through the complicated web of choices and consequences, including removing a substantial amount of tariffs goods, and reducing them from a lot more limited list of Chinese-made consumer products.

The White Home also is considering a good expanded process just for approving product-specific exeptions from the tariffs plus whether to set any action with a brand new Section 301 investigation into China’s condition subsidies and plans to dominate high-technology industries, the resources have said.

The White Home had no immediate comment on the tariff discussions.

Greater than 400 requests through industry and labor groups have asked for that the US Business Representative’s office keep the China tariffs in position, indicating that Biden can face some repercussion if he chooses a substantial tariff decrease.