WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration is fastidiously learning the inflationary impression of tariffs imposed on China by former President Donald Trump’s administration given a surge in shopper costs, White Home press secretary Jen Psaki stated on Monday.
Psaki stated she had no information on tariff reductions since U.S. Commerce Consultant Katherine Tai remains to be reviewing Trump-era tariffs on Chinese language items. However she made clear that larger inflation was an element within the deliberations.
“That is an ongoing course of, and we’re actually the place we see prices being raised and, at a time the place we’re seeing heightened inflation, actually that’s on our minds,” Psaki stated.
She stated the evaluate was additionally bigger points, reminiscent of China’s habits in world markets and the impression of tariffs on wages, job alternatives and America’s aggressive edge.
The White Home feedback got here days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated it was “price contemplating” taking steps to decrease U.S. tariffs on Chinese language items given the “fascinating results” such a transfer may have on decreasing U.S. inflation, which has hit 40-year highs this yr.
Deputy nationwide safety adviser Daleep Singh instructed a separate occasion on Thursday that easing tariffs on non-strategic Chinese language items reminiscent of bicycles or attire may assist fight inflation.
Biden’s approval rankings have fallen as the prices of power, meals and different staples have risen, with mounting public frustration threatening to price Democrats their slim majorities in Congress in midterm elections in November.
Chad Bown, a senior fellow on the Peterson Institute for Worldwide Economics, stated Psaki’s feedback compounded expectations that the Biden administration was contemplating tariff reductions.
Bown stated that will seemingly require behind-the-scenes negotiations with Beijing. Such a transfer would additionally seemingly trigger tensions with a Biden administration push to maneuver provide chains from China and nearer to dwelling.
No remark was instantly obtainable from Tai’s workplace.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Modifying by Cynthia Osterman
