US tariffs on more than $300 billion in annual imports from China provide significant leverage and are useful from a negotiating standpoint, President Joe Biden’s trade chief said amid a debate within his administration on whether to keep the duties in place.
“The China tariffs are, in my view, a significant piece of leverage, and a trade negotiator never walks away from leverage,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday in response to a question from Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican, about whether removing the duties would encourage “more bad behavior” by Beijing.
