Biden team defends China tariffs amid debate to trim some duties

The US government defended additional tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods imposed under Donald Trump, just as President Joe Biden assesses whether to cut some of the levies in part to address soaring inflation.

The Office of the US Trade Representative continued to consider duties imposed under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which the Trump administration used to hit China starting in July 2018, to be “appropriate measures,” according to a statement filed by the agency on Monday. 

The USTR provided the comments after the US Court of International Trade ordered in April that the Biden administration must present a fuller explanation to keep the Trump-era tariffs. It said the former president’s team failed to adequately justify its decision to expand the tariffs.

The expansion of the punitive tariffs was intended to “address the defensive actions taken by China to maintain its harmful practices” that affected a broad range of American products, the USTR said in the Monday filing.

The comments came as Biden considers whether to scrap some of the tariffs to help fight record inflation in the US ahead of November’s midterm elections. Biden didn’t share any potential next steps on the duties during a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

Bilateral ties between the US and China have worsened significantly since Trump’s trade war and tensions escalated recently over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s expected visit to Taiwan, which would make her the highest-ranking US official to set foot on the island in 25 years. 

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has promised “grave consequences” for Pelosi’s visit.