But strategic and political considerations outweigh the appeal. Whatever the benefits for discerning consumers, the domestic and foreign impacts on America’s worst international relations have raised the stakes higher than that.
“The reasons to do this or not to do this should not be abused,” said Richard Haass, a top aide to the State Department under President George W. Bush who now heads the Council on Foreign Relations. broadcast. “The impact on US-China relations, and the domestic politics of US-China relations, will outweigh any impact on inflation.”
Business groups from the American Soybean Association to the Information Technology Industry Council wrote: “These costs, combined with other inflationary pressures, place a significant burden on American businesses, farmers and people and families are trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic.” .
But White House officials say tariffs are not on the US agenda. After Biden and Mr. Xi talked for more than three hours, and with the White House politically affected by the highest inflation in decades, no policy change was announced.
Still, he faces Republican accusations of weakness for China policy, a key element of Trump’s 2020 campaign. Though Haass called those attacks “absurd,” unilaterally lifting the tariffs would only encourage Republicans to amplify them.
And the tariffs have fallen short of Trump’s goal of revitalizing American manufacturing. In 2019, before the pandemic turned the economy upside down, the Federal Reserve said the manufacturing sector had indeed fallen into recession.
But so far, Biden has only eased tariffs on European steel and aluminum. As a result, China levies taxes on imported consumer goods and intermediate goods that businesses use to produce finished products, which remain in value.
Trade experts say Trump has taken a tougher line after years of China obstructing global rules by stealing intellectual property, subsidizing domestic industries and restricting imports. Imports are detrimental to American businesses as well as workers. He has been successful in urging Beijing to relax restrictions on US agricultural imports and the operations of US financial companies in China.
However, the modest impact of Trump’s policies on Chinese exporters has failed to leverage the fundamental economic reforms he has sought.
“It really doesn’t affect the Chinese that much,” said Scott Lincicome, an analyst at the liberal Cato Institute.
“Overall, these tariffs are dropping almost 100% for the American consumer,” said Jennifer Hillman, a former commerce official under President Bill Clinton who now teaches law at Georgetown University. “The only question for Biden is: Can you get something to remove these tariffs?”
In a speech last month, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said only that “we will begin a targeted tariff elimination process” that could lift selected taxes in one process. optimally serve our economic interests.” But she noted that China has failed to live up to its previous promises to buy US goods and maintain an “unfair policy” of subsidizing steel production, semiconductors and solar power products. domestically at US expense.
“I am committed to overcoming the many challenges ahead in this bilateral process to deliver meaningful results,” pledges Tai at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “But above all, we must protect – ultimately – our economic interests.”
That’s not to say Biden can’t find a politically acceptable path to the discounting benefits of further lifting of Trump’s tariffs in the coming months. But doing so would require deft negotiations to secure concessions from America’s most formidable competitor.
“Like sanctions or war, (tariffs) are easier to initiate than to remove,” concludes Haass. “That’s why God invented diplomats.”
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