US mulls probe into Chinese subsidies in bid to pressure Beijing on trade

Top Biden economic advisers, including USTR Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, are meeting to discuss the potential probe

The move comes less than a day after the US president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a phone call

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US President Joe Biden. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 12:04am, 11 Sep 2021Updated: 4:27am, 11 Sep 2021

The Biden administration is weighing a new investigation into Chinese subsidies and their damage to the US economy as a way to pressure Beijing on trade, people familiar with the matter said.

Top Biden economic advisers, including US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, are meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the potential probe, the people said.

They will also discuss the January 2020 trade deal reached under President Donald Trump and enforcement options along with a path forward for roughly US$300 billion in tariffs imposed on Chinese imports, the people said on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

USTR has asked outside consultants to help quantify the damage from Chinese subsidies to measure the kind of response that’s appropriate should the investigation proceed, two of the people said.

The offshore yuan pared gains after the report. The S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index – which tracks firms listed in the US that conduct a majority of their business in China – hit their lows of the session following the news, while the declines were modest.

The meeting comes less than a day after President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a 90-minute phone call in which Biden expressed frustration with Beijing’s lack of seriousness in engaging with his team.