US manufacturing association pushes back on Biden administration claim that China tariffs spurred job surge

Name: An unwinnable conflict? The US-China trade war, 5 years on
Uploaded: 2024-02-14T00:21:42.000Z
Duration: 14 min 45 s
Description: An unwinnable conflict? The US-China trade war, 5 years on

National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmons was responding US Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s claim that tariffs had ‘strategic value’

US government data shows slow manufacturing job growth last year, followed by a jump in January

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The Office of the US Trade Representative is reviewing the need for and impact of Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports. Photo: AFP

Khushboo Razdanin Washington

Published: 8:21am, 14 Feb 2024

The leader of a trade group is rebutting persistent claims that tariffs on Chinese imports have created a surge in domestic manufacturing jobs, and warning against more import duties in the future.

“Before any elected official or appointed officials starts talking about how good tariffs are, they need to look at the results of how these tariffs have been applied to some manufacturers here in America, and how that’s actually cost jobs for American manufacturing workers,” Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said on Tuesday in Washington.

Appearing at the 2024 annual conference of the Washington International Trade Association, Timmons was asked to comment on US Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s statement on Monday that the US saw “strategic value” in keeping the tariffs in place to reinvigorate American manufacturing.

The 25 per cent additional tariffs on Chinese imports worth US$300 billion were first imposed in 2018 by then president Donald Trump in an effort to reduce the bilateral trade deficit. Though that goal was not achieved and even led to high prices for American consumers, President Joe Biden has kept most of the Trump-era tariffs intact.

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An unwinnable conflict? The US-China trade war, 5 years on

Tai insisted on Monday that the tariffs have worked in conjunction with other key initiatives championed by Biden –including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act – to spur domestic manufacturing.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that despite punitive tariffs on Chinese imports and billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks, manufacturers added only 12,000 jobs to the US economy in 2023. Last month, the industry added 23,000 jobs.