General

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal on the 6th, more than 30 most influential business groups in the United States representing retailers, chip manufacturers, farmers and other groups have collectively voiced a few days ago, calling on the Biden government to restart negotiations with China and cut back. Import tariffs, they said they are dragging down the U.S. economy.

According to reports, the above-mentioned business group wrote to US Trade Representative Dai Qi and Secretary of the Treasury Yellen on the 5th, stating that the Chinese government had previously reached and fulfilled the "important benchmarks and commitments" in the agreement, including opening the market to US financial institutions and reducing Some regulatory barriers to the export of agricultural products from the United States to China. These business groups include some of the most influential large business associations in Washington, such as the National Chamber of Commerce, the American Business Roundtable, the National Retail Federation, the American Farmers Federation, and the Semiconductor Industry Association.

The US "New York Times" quoted the content of the letter as saying that the Biden administration should "act quickly" to resolve the "heavy" tariff issue. They also support the White House to “continue to engage with China on trade and economic issues” to ensure that China fulfills its commitments in the economic and trade agreement signed with the Trump administration in early 2020.

"Due to tariffs, the cost of U.S. companies manufacturing products and providing services at home has increased, making exports of these products and services less competitive overseas." These organizations also urge the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to grant companies some tariff exemptions and launch a comprehensive The process of reducing tariffs on Chinese goods.

According to reports, spokespersons for the Office of the US Trade Representative and the Treasury Department have not yet responded to requests for comment.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed that judging from the statements of these industry organizations, the majority of American companies are increasingly disappointed in the speed with which the Biden administration assesses China's trade and economic policies. The Biden administration has basically given no signal on whether it intends to implement the first phase of the economic and trade agreement negotiated by the Trump administration or seek to extend the agreement. The Biden administration also did not indicate whether it intends to maintain the additional tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. Currently, about half of the U.S. imports from China are subject to additional tariffs.

The US media quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying that Dai Qi had a private meeting with executives of six major companies from the West Coast of the United States in Seattle a few days ago. The person familiar with the matter said that Dai Qi expressed support for these companies to request the US government to complete the assessment, but did not disclose any details about the policies that the US government is formulating or when the policies will be announced.

Among high-level Trump administration officials, Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury, has previously publicly stated that tariffs are harmful to the economy. In an interview with The New York Times last month, she said: "Tariffs are taxed on consumers. In some cases, I seem to feel that what we are doing hurts American consumers, and the previous government has negotiated In many respects, this agreement did not really solve our fundamental problems with China.” However, other officials in the Biden administration said privately that Yellen’s remarks did not imply a change in US trade policy.

The analysis believes that one of the important reasons for US companies to call on the White House to abolish additional tariffs on China is that this has increased the production and operating costs of the companies.

Tu Xinquan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics, said in an interview with a "Global Times" reporter on the 6th that the tariffs did not weaken China's exports and its position in the global value chain. On the contrary, it caused American companies and consumers to pay a heavy price. The U.S. demand for Chinese goods continues to grow, while China’s imports from the U.S. have declined, making China’s surplus with the U.S. increase instead of falling.

According to information released by the General Administration of Customs of China, in the first half of this year, the total value of bilateral trade in goods between China and the United States was 2.21 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.6%. Among them, exports to the United States were 1.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.7%, and my country’s imports from the United States were 570.65 billion yuan, an increase of 43.9%, and the trade surplus was about 1069.4 billion yuan.

Tu Xinquan emphasized that the US business community’s call for tariff cuts should be welcomed, but under the circumstance that economic and trade issues are politicized and political influence is greater than commercial influence, it is still uncertain how much the business community can play on this issue.