USA-CHINA Biden upholds Trump’s trade tariffs against Beijing

The trade war between Washington and Beijing does not stop. Most US companies have asked for the tariffs to be confirmed. The US president wanted to write off part of it to reduce the domestic effects of inflation. However, the US trade deficit with China continues to grow.

Washington () – The Biden administration will maintain the trade tariffs introduced by Donald Trump in 2018 against Chinese products, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said last night. The decision was made at the request of national industries, who said that the tariffs were necessary to protect the US economy from the unfair practices of the Chinese.

Tai made it clear that a review of the tariffs against Beijing is still underway. Washington’s attention is mainly focused on Chinese state aid such as trade subsidies, which distort the market dynamics between China and the United States.

President Biden had considered the possibility of eliminating some tariffs to reduce inflationary pressure in the country. The option was ruled out last month, when Beijing held massive military exercises around Taiwan in response to a visit to Taipei by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

However, tariff policy has not improved Washington’s balance of payments. In the first six months of the year, the US trade deficit with Beijing exceeded 200,000 million dollars. In the same period of 2021, it had stopped at about 157,000 million, according to the US Census Bureau.

To find a solution to the trade war triggered by Trump, in January 2020 the United States and China signed a preliminary agreement in which Beijing promised to increase the purchase of goods and services from the United States by some 200,000 million dollars by the end of 2021, relative to 2017 levels. Tai insisted several times that the goal had not been achieved.