Joe Biden says action on China import tariffs still being discussed

President Joe Biden said his administration is still discussing possible action on US tariffs on Chinese imports, after Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she expects a decision “shortly.”

“No, we are having further discussions on that,” Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday when asked if there was a decision.  

Biden’s administration has been considering easing some Trump-era tariffs on consumer goods from China for some time amid divisions among his team. Senior US and Chinese officials discussed US economic sanctions and tariffs last week.

Raimondo said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier Sunday that “we were briefing him and I expect he’ll make a decision shortly.”

Labor unions and some top officials, including Trade Representative Katherine Tai, support keeping the tariffs, which they believe give the US leverage in negotiations with China. Others, such as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have argued for reducing tariffs on Chinese goods to help curb the fastest pace of inflation in 40 years and reduce consumer prices on everyday items.

“We should be clear about what lifting tariffs would and wouldn’t do, right?” Raimondo told NBC. “Like, lifting tariffs isn’t going to bring down top-line inflation in a very significant way.”

“What it will do potentially is help consumers on certain household goods, ” she said. Most important to Biden is that any action is done “is without hurting American workers.”

Former President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on a range of Chinese goods starting in July 2018 after an investigation concluded China stole intellectual property from American companies and forced them to transfer technology. The Biden administration said in May it would review the tariffs, a process required to keep them from starting to expire in July.

Raimondo said last month that the US has decided to keep tariffs on steel and aluminum but may drop them on other goods.