Biden’s U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, argued that abandoning tariffs on China would alienate labor union allies and bolster Republican claims that Biden is soft on Beijing.
01:52
US proposes new tariffs on China as trade war escalates
US proposes new tariffs on China as trade war escalates
A May report from the Office of the United States Trade Representative found that President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods have reduced real American incomes and discouraged investment, but have not increased manufacturing jobs. Similarly, a recent study of President Trump’s tariffs by the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that the tariffs have been more electorally effective than economically.
Oxford Economics estimates that tariffs resulting from President Trump’s trade war with China cost the U.S. 245,000 jobs and $100 billion in lost output between 2018 and 2019.
A 2023 U.S. International Trade Commission report found that U.S. importers have borne nearly the entire cost of President Trump’s trade war. U.S. consumers have paid $236 billion in Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Eswar Prasad, a former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China department and a senior professor at Cornell University, called the tariffs a “zero-sum game of industrial policy.”
The ongoing tariff war between the United States and China has hurt many and benefited only a select few. Nevertheless, Biden and Trump’s positions will likely stifle any debate this year over protectionism versus free trade. Biden’s campaign will likely try to limit the debate to highlighting the contrast between Trump’s proposed global, indiscriminate tariffs and Biden’s more strategic, targeted tariffs.
Rather than adopting protectionist policies that pursue narrow political interests at the expense of American and global consumers, both Biden and Trump should prioritize the health of the global economy, propose reopening trade negotiations with China, and find win-win scenarios that benefit everyone.
14:45
An unwinnable conflict? Five years into the US-China trade war
An unwinnable conflict? Five years into the US-China trade war
These efforts will help restore mutual trust that has deteriorated in recent years, strengthen high-level exchanges, and maintain open lines of communication that are crucial to ending the trade war.
The United States and China should continue these efforts to reduce trade tensions, which would benefit not only Washington and Beijing but the entire world.
Sumesh Siwakoti is a Vienna-based policy analyst and commentator.
