US keeping ‘eye on the ball’ on China tariffs, removal must be ‘strategic’, trade chief says

US President Joe Biden on Monday said he is considering removing some of the tariffs and would talk with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

The Biden administration earlier this month also took the first step toward a review of tariffs on more than US$300 billion in Chinese imports

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US Trade Representative Katherine Tai would not say whether the administration would remove the tariffs, or give a time frame for making a decision. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:50am, 24 May 2022Updated: 12:14pm, 24 May 2022

The US must be “strategic” when it comes to a decision on whether to remove China tariffs, Trade Representative Katherine Tai said a day after President Joe Biden mentioned he would review Trump-era levies as consumer prices surge.

“With respect to the tariffs, our approach as with everything in this relationship, is to be strategic,” Tai said on Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Shery Ahn and Haidi Lun.

“We have to keep our eye on the ball in terms of how to effectively realign the US-China trade and economic relationship.”

Tai would not say whether the administration would remove the tariffs, or give a time frame for making a decision.

All options are on the table in terms of how we address our short-term economic needs, but our eye must be on the ball with respect to the medium and long term needs for the United States to realign this economic and trade relationship

Katherine Tai

“All options are on the table in terms of how we address our short-term economic needs, but our eye must be on the ball with respect to the medium and long term needs for the United States to realign this economic and trade relationship,” she said.