Biden may leave Trump’s China tariffs in place – By Rick Newman (Yahoo Finance) / Feb 23 2021
A month into his presidency, Joe Biden has indicated he’s in no hurry to undo the punitive trade measure his predecessor placed on China. Biden has announced no policy changes so far, and none of the 32 executive orders he has signed involve China or trade.
Biden will eventually formulate his own China policy, probably with more emphasis on national security, human rights and climate change than under President Trump, who made trade the centerpiece of his China efforts. In the meanwhile, Biden seems increasingly likely to leave Trump’s policies in place, including the tariffs Trump imposed on about $250 billion of annual imports from China. That’s something of a surprise to investors who were expecting Biden to quickly break with Trump, as he has on numerous other issues.
“Early staffing decisions indicate less of a focus on economic ties and the trade deficit, pointing to a potentially longer than expected timeline to any adjustments in U.S. tariff policy,” analysts at investing firm Raymond James wrote in a Feb. 17 research note. “Incoming staff do not feel an urgent need to make near-term policy changes, including adjustment to tariffs, as the general sense is they have been less disruptive than originally feared.”
Trump roiled markets with two years of escalating tariffs and other punitive measures, which culminated in the “phase one” trade deal China and the United States signed in January 2020. That deal required China to purchase more American exports, in exchange for a pause in Trump’s tariff hikes. But China is far behind on the purchases it is supposed to make, leaving Biden pondering how to enforce a deal China isn’t abiding by.
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