President Joe Biden has retained the tariffs on imports from China that were imposed during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Although Biden and Trump differ starkly on many policy issues, the two are almost similar on trade policy. Biden has maintained tariffs on about $370 billion of imports from China, which include specialized components that American manufacturers need to build their products in the US.
The Trump administration previously said this move was supposed to deter US reliance on Chinese imports. However, US companies complained they would lose money to foreign competitors if the government will maintain a "flawed" process of granting tariff exclusions to select industries.
In three years of his term, Biden has kept the tariffs while being reviewed by the US Trade Representative.
Here's Why Joe Biden Retains Donald Trump-Era Tariffs on Imports From China
During a discussion with former US Trade Representative Michael Froman at the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai defended the Biden administration's decision to maintain punitive tariffs on imports from China.
According to South China Morning Post, Tai said this policy has complemented other efforts by Joe Biden to increase the number of domestic manufacturing jobs.
Tai noted that the additional duties on Chinese goods implemented by Donald Trump plus tariffs he imposed on imported steel and aluminum had helped increased the Biden administration's job-creation initiatives.
Joe Biden's Retention of Donald Trump-Era Tariffs Creates More Manufacturing Jobs
Tai said the tariffs have had more of an impact since the enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act, by the Biden administration, adding that nearly a million manufacturing jobs were created since Biden took office, SCMP reported.
The US Bureau of Labour Statistics data showed a rise of more than 750,000 manufacturing jobs since Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
"When taken together, I would welcome anyone to do a study and look at all of these working in concert and how they have made changes to the US economy," Tai said as SCMP reported.
"You have to be looking at all these policy vectors as combined. Picking and choosing them really does trade policy as part of the economic policy family a significant injustice," she added.
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