Joe Biden ‘cautious’ on China tariffs after Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip, US commerce chief says
- Gina Raimondo says the controversial visit has made geopolitics with Beijing ‘particularly complicated’
- US officials are eager not to do anything that could be viewed as escalating the situation, but also don’t want to be seen as retreating, insiders say
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has made geopolitics with China “particularly complicated” as President Joe Biden weighs the future of tariffs on more than US$300 billion in goods from the US rival, according to his commerce chief.
“Certainly, it has made it a little more challenging,” Gina Raimondo said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power With David Westin on Wednesday.
“It’s harder, but I am hopeful that we will get beyond that and get back to a place where we can have more of those discussions.”
Biden is considering what to do with the Trump-era tariffs and is weighing his options, Raimondo said. He is “very cautious” and does not want to do anything that would hurt American workers, she said.
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Joe Biden ‘concerned’ over PLA drills around Taiwan but doesn’t think Beijing will escalate
“But I know he’s looking at it. We’ve talked about it again recently, and I expect he’ll be making a decision before too long.”