US Trade Representative Katherine Tai speaks during a reception to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on May 17, 2022. File photo: Elizabeth Frantz, Reuters.
Battling inflation is a more complicated issue than can be addressed with a “singular focus on China tariffs, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Monday.
Inflation is “scary” and hurting Americans financially but it is a complicated issue with many causes, Tai said in remarks to the Washington International Trade Association.
“The economy is large and there are a lot of pressure points and levers in that economy,” Tai said. “If we’re going to take on an issue like inflation, and given the seriousness that it requires, then our approach to tools for mitigating and addressing that inflation need to respect that it is a more complicated issue than just tariffs at the border.”
Tai’s remarks indicate that a debate within President Joe Biden’s administration is continuing on whether to cut some “Section 301” tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports of up to 25% imposed by former President Donald Trump.
Tai, referring to US ties with China, said it was important for the Biden administration “to bring a thoughtful, strategic, deliberate approach to how we manage this relationship overall.”
Among the administration’s most important responsibilities “is to figure out how to get this relationship right – and nothing about this relationship is easy,” Tai added.
Tai has been at odds with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over the future of the Section 301 tariffs, with Yellen arguing that they hurt US consumers and businesses and that they could have some effect on reducing prices.
Tai said the Biden administration over the next two weeks would begin defining its vision for another key trade initiative with 13 Asian countries. Tai added that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework talks need to be “holistic, extremely flexible, adaptable and really, really pragmatic.”
She said she hopes to have a more formalised convening of participating countries this summer, including at the trade minister level, to discuss the negotiating pillars of labour rights, high environmental standards, digital trade and supply chain resilience.
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