China ‘s military maneuvers around Taiwan have prompted US government representatives to recalibrate their stance on whether to remove some tariffs or potentially impose others on Beijing, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.
President Joe Biden has not made a decision on the matter, according to the sources. His team has been looking for months at various ways to ease the costs of tariffs imposed on Chinese imports under his predecessor, Donald Trump, as he tries to curb inflation.
A combination of removing some tariffs, launching a new “Section 301” analysis of potential areas for new tariffs and expanding a list of tariff exclusions has been considered to help US companies that can only source certain supplies from China.
Tariffs make Chinese imports more expensive for US businesses, and products cost more for consumers.
The tariffs that currently exist were imposed in 2018 and 2019 by Trump on Chinese imports valued at the time at 370,000 million dollars (mdd) to pressure the Asian giant for its alleged theft of American intellectual property.
Reducing inflation is one of Biden’s main goals ahead of November’s midterm elections, which could shift control of one or both houses of Congress from Democrats to Republicans.
However, China’s response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week prompted a recalculation by the government, which seeks to do nothing that could be seen by the Asian giant. like a climb.
Chinese soldiers have been engaged for days in ballistic missile launches and simulated attacks on the island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
“I think Taiwan has changed everything,” said a source familiar with the latest developments in the process.
A high-ranking administration official clarified that Biden had not made a decision.
“The president had not made a decision before the events in the Taiwan Strait and has not made a decision yet, period. All options are still on the table,” the source said.
