US to Soon Decide Amid Caution Over Tariff Cuts on Chinese Products

Inflation Is a Short-Term Issue, US Losing Competitiveness Due to China's Unfair Trade Practices

[Asia Economy International Desk Reporter] A senior official from the U.S. Department of the Treasury made a remark suggesting the need for caution regarding the plan to reduce tariffs on Chinese products, drawing attention.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Biden administration is currently considering lowering tariffs on Chinese products as a measure to curb inflation.

According to Bloomberg News, Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, said in an interview with CNN on the 31st of last month (local time), "One of the long-standing challenges we face is that unfair trade practices by China have led to the loss of American jobs and weakened the competitiveness of U.S. companies."

Deputy Secretary Adeyemo emphasized, "We want to address not only short-term issues like inflation but also the long-term problems we face."

This can be interpreted as meaning that tariffs on China have a positive long-term effect on maintaining employment and corporate competitiveness. In a situation where the Biden administration recently hinted at the possibility of removing tariffs on some items, the Treasury’s second-in-command made remarks leaning toward caution.

The Biden administration is currently discussing whether to maintain the high tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese products as retaliation for China’s unfair trade practices, which were imposed by former President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration labeled China’s unfair trade practices as economic aggression and pressured for correction, imposing a broad 25% tariff on Chinese products based on Section 301 of the Trade Act.

President Joe Biden is considering partially removing some of the high tariffs on China and has stated that he will discuss this matter with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

At a press conference held in Bonn, Germany, on the 18th of last month, Secretary Yellen indicated the possibility of removing some tariffs, saying, "Some of the tariffs imposed by former President Trump appear to cause greater harm to consumers and businesses and are not very strategic in terms of addressing the real problems of our economy."

A Treasury spokesperson told Bloomberg that Secretary Yellen’s position and Deputy Secretary Adeyemo’s remarks highlighting the positive aspects of tariffs on China are not contradictory. It suggests that the Treasury is reviewing the general effects of tariffs on China and the need to remove tariffs on certain items from multiple perspectives.

In fact, there are opinions within the U.S. administration urging caution regarding tariff removal. Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), recently argued in media interviews that the effect of tariff removal on price stabilization is small and that unilateral disarmament by the U.S. could occur while China has not improved its unfair trade practices.

Deputy Secretary Adeyemo stated, "The government’s final decision on tariffs on China will be made soon."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.