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Biden says White House may cut Trump China tariffs to lower consumer prices


Chairperson Joe Biden said he could reduce some tariffs imposed on Chinese imports to help control rising consumer prices in the US – just as Wall Street is gearing up for another inflation report north of 8% .

The White House is reviewing the penalties introduced under the former President Donald Trump — this has raised prices of everything from diapers to clothing and furniture — and could choose to get rid of them altogether, Biden said during his speech to the nation from Washington on Tuesday.

“We’re looking at what’s going to have the most positive impact,” Biden said, adding that removing tariffs was currently being discussed.

Trump has hit a series of financial penalties on Chinese goods in a protracted tit-for-tat trade war with Beijing in an effort to ramp up US-made goods.

The extent to which Trump’s removal of tariffs on Chinese products will cool inflation is a matter of debate among economists, but many argue that easing or eliminating tariffs altogether is one of the few options available to a White House eager to use every available lever to keep costs down.

The President reiterated that the combination of Covid-19 protocols at home and abroad and the President of Russia By Vladimir Putin The invasion of Ukraine caused prices in the US to rise at the fastest rate since the early 1980s.

“I want every American to know that I take inflation very seriously,” Biden said. “The primary cause of inflation was a pandemic that lasted for a century. It not only shut down our global economy, but it also shut down supply chains and demand completely.”

“And this year we have a second cause: Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine,” he added, referring to the dramatic rise in oil prices due to Moscow’s offensive in early 2022.

While West Texas Intermediate crude futures were above $130 a barrel in March, June oil contracts were last seen trading around $100, about $30 higher than they were at the start of the year. .

The President noted that the war has also increased the prices of contracts for staple food products such as wheat and corn, by 40% and 30% respectively by 2022. Russia and Ukraine together supply more than 1 /4 world wheat.

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Economists attribute the combination of the pandemic – particularly China’s recent and severe efforts to curb rising cases there – and the war in Ukraine to be to blame. inflation increased by 8.5% over last year through March, the highest reading since 1981. Wall Street is eagerly reading the upcoming Labor Department report on April inflation, due for release at 8:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that report to show inflation rose 8.1 percent in the 12 months ended April.

Biden’s comments a day before the release were the administration’s latest attempt to convince the American public that the White House was exploring all options available to quell rising prices. Dozens of polls have shown that Americans now believe that inflation is the main problem facing the US and a threat to the economic recovery after the Covid recession.

While some economic measures have produced a substantial recovery – the US employment rate held steady at a low of 3.6% last month – higher gas and grocery bills continue to erode. eroded wages and caused fury across the country.

In recent weeks, Biden has sought to assuage those frustrations through frequent speeches.

Last week, he made an offer significantly reduce the federal deficit this fiscal year as an important departure from what he sees as rampant spending by his Republican predecessor and a step toward fiscal responsibility and lowering prices.

Republicans attribute the raging inflation in large part to the Democrats’ ambitious economic policies, including trillions of dollars in Covid relief in the Rescue Americans Plan as well as infrastructure legislation. bipartisan signed by Biden in 2021.

The GOP also indicated that federal spending could be higher and the deficit expected to be larger, if Biden and his Democratic colleagues had managed to pass a bill on climate, housing and the workforce was once called the Rebuild Better plan.

Those attacks pose a political problem for Democrats as they face an uphill battle for control of Congress in the pivotal November midterm elections. split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, while the House of Representatives is split 221-209 in favor of Democrats.

Biden, in his recent comments, countered the Republican blunders by resisting the administration’s efforts to reduce prescription drug costs and raise taxes only on the richest Americans.

“What’s the Republican plan of Congress? They don’t want to solve inflation by lowering your costs. They want to solve it by raising taxes and reducing your income,” Biden said on Tuesday. “Their plan is really to make working families poorer.”



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