US-China trade war: ‘all options’ on table in tariff review, Washington seeking ‘structure that makes sense’
- Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi says Washington is seeking to address long-term challenges from China and ‘getting a tariff structure that really makes sense’
- US President Joe Biden has said he is considering removing some of the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by predecessor Donald Trump
The Biden administration is considering “all options” as it reviews potential changes to US duties on Chinese imports, including tariff relief and new trade investigations in a shift of focus to strategic concerns with Beijing, Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) Sarah Bianchi said on Thursday.
Bianchi told Reuters in an interview that the agency is seeking to address long-term challenges from China and “getting a tariff structure that really makes sense”.
“We’re looking at everything and what we’re focused on is making sure that we have again, a long term realignment of the relationship with China, focusing on some of the concerns … such as non-market practices and economic coercion,” Bianchi said.
His administration is seeking ways to cool inflation, and industry groups have called for tariff cuts to reduce costs for businesses and consumers.
While an initial round of tariffs on US$50 billion worth of strategic and industrial goods from China resulted in a so-called Section 301 investigation of Beijing’s misappropriation of US technology, duelling rounds of retaliation heaped US duties on US$300 billion more of imports, including consumer products, from bicycles to apparel to Bluetooth devices.