China welcomes US tariff exemptions, but ‘symbolic move’ fails to tackle fundamental trade issues

Commerce ministry urges US to remove all tariffs on Chinese goods to help return bilateral economic and trade relations to normal

Chinese analysts say the move is a small, ‘long-overdue’ adjustment in US trade policy, but does not address major trade issues

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The US has reinstated tariff exemptions on some Chinese goods. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:00pm, 24 Mar 2022

China has welcomed Washington’s decision to reinstate tariff exemptions on more than 350 Chinese goods, while calling for all Trump-era duties to be lifted “as soon as possible”.

The exemptions, which were announced by the Biden administration on Wednesday, would help normalise trade, the Ministry of Commerce said.

“Under the current persistently high inflation and challenges facing the global economic recovery, it is hoped that the United States … will abolish all tariffs imposed on China as soon as possible, so as to return bilateral economic and trade relations to the normal track soon,” said Shu Jueting, the ministry’s spokeswoman, on Thursday.

The exemptions, which will apply retroactively from last October until the end of 2022, came after the conclusion of a public comment period that the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office announced last October.

So far, there is no clear sign that the US will significantly and enduringly abolish high tariffs on China

Shi Yinhong

The decision was a small but “long-overdue” adjustment in US trade policy, said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University of China.

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