WASHINGTON DC – In response to the Biden Administration’s release of the statutorily-required Section 301 four-year review and the announcement of new tariffs imposed on goods from China, Tiffany Smith, Vice President of Global Trade Policy at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), released the following statement:
“While we welcome the release of the long-overdue Section 301 four-year review and a new exclusion process to provide limited relief to American manufacturers, this announcement is a missed opportunity to move away from relying on tariffs as the tool of choice in our relationship with China.
“This announcement suggests that this Administration continues to believe that imposing unilateral tariffs on imports from China will be effective in swaying Beijing to abandon the array of policies that first led to this investigation and which remain a problem. If tariffs were going to solve these complex issues, they would have done so by now.
“The small improvements are overshadowed by the cost and effects of maintaining old and imposing new tariffs. According to the Administration’s own data, U.S. businesses and consumers have paid over $215 billion in Section 301 tariffs since 2018 with little to show for it, and will now be on the hook to pay even more.
“Instead of continuing to rely on tariffs, which increase prices for all Americans at a time of record inflation, as a primary policy tool, the Administration should be seeking ways to work with our key trading partners to create real change in China and bring lasting benefits to American producers, exporters and consumers.”
Tiffany Smith is available for further comment on this issue. She can be reached at tsmith@nftc.org.
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About the NFTC
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is the premier business association advancing trade and tax policies that support access to the global marketplace. Founded in 1914, NFTC promotes an open, rules-based global economy on behalf of a diverse membership of U.S.-based businesses.
