As the US debates China tariffs, Chinese economists can say “told you so”
The White House is debating whether to roll back some of the Trump-era tariffs imposed on roughly $350 billion of Chinese goods. It’s one prong of an attempt at curbing decades-high inflation, but it comes with hard tradeoffs.
Analysts at the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate that removing the China tariffs could eventually lead to a 1% reduction in inflation—admittedly not a solution to the 8.6% rise in the consumer price index, but still a notable dent. Former White House economic adviser Jason Furman has said it would be “the biggest step” US president Joe Biden can take to bring prices down.
Others say it’s not so simple. The US trade representative Katherine Tai said this month that fighting inflation is a “more complicated issue than just tariffs” and that Washington needs to be “strategic” in the US-China trade relationship.
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