“Not There Yet” on Lifting Tariffs on Mainland China, President Biden Says

President Biden is holding out the possibility of lifting some of the Section 301 tariffs on imports from mainland China but said in a 19 January press conference that “we’re not there yet.”

Biden acknowledged pressure from U.S. business groups to begin lifting the tariffs, which have cost importers billions of dollars since they were first imposed in 2018. But he said he wants to see that mainland China is “meeting … more of their commitments” under the bi-lateral phase one trade agreement that both sides concluded in 2020 before considering such action.

Recent press reports suggest U.S. concerns focus largely on the fact that mainland China has fallen about 40 percent short of the US$200 billion in additional U.S. goods it pledged to purchase over the past two years, though the deal set out a number of other objectives as well. Biden said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is “working on that right now” but gave no further details. Tai also has been tight-lipped, saying only that she is continuing to discuss the matter both internally and with her mainland Chinese counterparts.