White House Adviser Singh Suggests U.S. Could Lower Tariffs On Chinese Goods

• A White House adviser on Thursday suggested the United States could lower tariffs imposed on a host of non-strategic Chinese goods such as bicycles or apparel to help combat inflation. 
• Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh said tariffs imposed by the former Trump government may have given the administration some negotiating leverage, but these tariffs served no strategic purpose, and China had similar non-strategic retaliatory tariffs in place. 
• Inflation is a critical concern for President Joe Biden, whose approval ratings are falling as the costs of energy, food and other staples increase, and his Democrats are at serious risk of losing their majorities in Congress in midterm congressional elections in November. 
• U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has restarted an exclusion process that could lower tariffs on some Chinese goods, but has made no major moves to wholesale remove tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods. 
• Singh noted that the United States could use tariffs to advance strategic priorities such as strengthening critical supply chains and maintaining U.S. preeminence in foundational technologies and to support national security.

(Source: Reuters)