Trump not setting up new tariffs on China before January: Official
08 December, 2020
US President Donald Trump will not plan to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products before his successor Joe Biden calls for office the following month, White House monetary adviser Larry Kudlow said on Mon (Dec 7).
"On the trade talks, we remain engaged," Kudlow said at a meeting hosted by The Washington Content. "We're not thinking about any new tariffs."
Trump launched an aggressive trade battle against Beijing that involved tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of vast amounts of dollars in goods, many of which remain in place despite a "phase one" arrangement signed early this season.
Kudlow said China is living up to the original agreement that included particular targets for buys of agricultural products like soybeans.
"Data show this, that China is abiding by an excellent chunk of the phase one trade package," he said, adding, "They may be behind because of the pandemic situation."
In addition, "there appears to be some great movement regarding establishing new laws and innovative legal bodies, judiciary bodies, to avoid the remarkable theft of our intellectual property that was, as you know, a key part of our considerations."
Biden the other day said he'd not approach immediately to remove the tariffs Trump imposed during his 4 years in business office, saying he would focus first on buying American staff and manufacturing.
Once he takes business office on Jan 20, Biden is likely to service diplomatic relations with trading partners and allies just like the European Union, which could be considered a solid ally found in pressuring Beijing to improve its behavior.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com