US should call time on its tariff review

This is an editorial from China Daily.

US business organizations, trade unions and enterprises have never stopped lobbying the US government to review the feasibility of the high tariffs imposed on goods from China.

However, the review, which the Joe Biden administration has extended time and again, dragged into its fourth year on Monday. During the process, the Biden administration has neither disclosed anything regarding the progress of the review or its findings, nor has it set a deadline for its conclusion.

Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of US businesses, trade organizations and workers united against tariffs, on Tuesday urged the Office of the United States Trade Representative to release the review results "immediately", believing that the review would prove the folly of continuing the high tariffs imposed on one of the largest trading partners of the US.

Its call came after the USTR announced last week a further extension, through May 31, 2024, of the reinstated COVID-related exclusions in the China Section 301 Investigation, which were due to expire on Dec 31 last year, without giving any indication of when the review into the tariffs imposed on imports of thousands of types of Chinese goods would be wrapped up. The COVID-related exclusions include medical products such as face masks, examination gloves and hand sanitizing wipes.

What the AFT said in its statement reflects the call of the majority of the US business community for the USTR to bring an end to the tariff policy that was initiated by the previous administration with the aim of gaining the upper hand in the second phase of trade negotiations that were due to be held with Beijing.

Rather than scrapping the tariffs on taking office, the Biden administration has kept them in place, which, as the AFT said, has led to more dislocation, inefficiencies and job losses.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Tuesday that the rivalry between the US and China could reduce global economic output by 7 percent — roughly equal to the annual output of France and Germany — by causing economic fragmentation that increases the cost of trade.

In that sense, her admonishment "we would all be better off finding ways to reduce frictions, concentrate on security concerns that are real and meaningful" should not fall on deaf ears. As she said, going "willy-nilly in fragmenting the world economy" just means everyone ends up "with a smaller pie".

If the US lifted the tariffs, it would not only give a shot in the arm to the world's top two economies steadying their ties, but also help inject positive energy and certainty into the global economy, which is in desperate need of a restorative tonic.