US-China relations: ‘reciprocal’ lowering of trade tariffs could ease inflation, Janet Yellen says
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Washington expects China to meet its commitments under the phase-one trade deal
- US officials have resumed an exclusion process that could lead to some tariffs being removed, but have not looked at broader rollbacks thus far
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States expects China to meet its commitments under the phase-one trade deal signed under former President Donald Trump, but could look at eventually lowering some tariffs in a reciprocal way.
The Treasury secretary and other officials insist that the current spike in prices in the United States is a result of supply chain bottlenecks and higher energy prices, but say inflation should ease in the second half of 2022.
Chinese officials have repeatedly urged the Biden administration to rescind tariffs imposed under Trump.
“Our trade representative has said that we would consider additional tariffs reductions,” she said. “We want to see China meet their commitments they made under phase one, but stabilising and perhaps eventually lowering some tariffs in a reciprocal way could be a desirable outcome.”