America will alter or delay China tariffs as trade war threat to Donald Trump’s base becomes clearer, predicts ex-US trade official
Wendy Cutler said in a talk that the Trump administration will narrow its action after negotiating with China, while Rhodium’s Daniel Rosen suggested differing views within US delegation could delay final decisions
The United States will alter a list of Chinese products targeted for import tariffs, or delay imposing the fees altogether, as it becomes clearer that there is the potential for economic and political blowback against President Donald Trump’s administration, a former US government trade official predicted on Thursday.
In total, US$50 billion worth of imported Chinese products face punitive US tariffs in the coming weeks if the US and China do not reach an agreement in the high-level meetings that started in Beijing on Thursday.
But Wendy Cutler, a former acting deputy US trade representative, said: “I think there will be adjustments in this list.”
“They’re going to spend some time looking at the comments that have been received because while I think the administration has tried very hard to come up a tariff list that will hurt China more than the United States, I think a number of these comments will reveal that US businesses with US workers will be affected.”
Cutler, who now serves as managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Washington office, was responsible for negotiations leading to the Trans-Pacific Partnership under former President Barack Obama. Trump pulled the US out of the TPP soon after taking office last year.