WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said Sunday that President Joe Biden has asked his team to consider raising some tariffs on China, which set the former President Donald Trump, to fight the current high inflation.
“We’re looking at it. In fact, the president has asked his team to look into it. And so we’re in the process of doing it for him and he’s going to have to make that decision,” Raimondo told CNN in an interview. on Sunday when asked if the Biden administration was suspending the lifting of tariffs in China to ease inflation.
“There are other products (household items, bicycles, etc.) and it may make sense” to weigh the lifting of tariffs on these, he said, adding that the administration had decided to keep some of the tariffs on steel and aluminum to protect American workers and the steel industry.
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Biden has said he is considering eliminating some of the tariffs imposed on Chinese products worth hundreds of billions of dollars by his predecessor in 2018 and 2019 amid a bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Read more
Chinese and American flags fluttering outside a US company building in Beijing, China on January 21, 2021. REUTERS / Tingshu Wang / Stock Photo
China has also been arguing that tariff reductions would reduce costs for U.S. consumers.
Raimondo also told CNN that he thought the shortage of semiconductor chips could continue until 2024.
“There is a solution (to the shortage of semiconductor chips),” he added. “Congress has to act and pass the tab bill. I don’t know why they’re being delayed.”
The legislation seeks to increase semiconductor manufacturing in the United States to make the United States more competitive against China. Read more
Raimondo said he disagreed with the characterization that Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion US rescue plan had contributed to the current high inflation. Congress approved the COVID-19 relief package a year ago before it was signed into law, marking an achievement of Biden’s first-year signing in office. Read more
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Report by Kanishka Singh in Washington Nick Zieminski’s edition
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