There are obvious differences in the speeches of senior US officials in the two days before and after
According to the Associated Press report on the 6th, US Trade Representative Dai Qi attended an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association that day. When asked whether the White House would announce new trade measures against China soon, she did not directly respond. She said that on the issue of trade with China, the United States should consider the whole and take a long-term view. "What is really important for the Biden administration is to bring a thoughtful, strategic and prudent approach to how to comprehensively manage the (US-China trade) relationship." . In response to the American society's request to cancel tariffs on China to solve the current high inflation problem in the United States, Dai Qi said that fighting inflation is a more complicated problem, and it cannot be solved by "only focusing on" tariffs on Chinese products.
Dai Qi's attitude was significantly different from the words of US Commerce Secretary Raymondo the day before. Raimondo said in an interview with US media on the 5th that Biden has asked the Commerce Department to study the cancellation of tariffs on Chinese products such as household goods and bicycles, but retain tariffs on steel and aluminum to protect American workers and steel. industry.
"Voice of America" said there was disagreement within the White House over whether to remove tariffs imposed on Chinese goods since the Trump administration. In addition to Commerce Secretary Raimondo, Treasury Secretary Yellen has advocated at least partial removal of tariffs to reduce U.S. inflationary pressures. Inflation in the U.S. is at its highest level in 40 years. However, Dai Qi opposes the unilateral reduction or exemption of tariffs on Chinese goods by the United States, and believes that tariffs are an important weight in future negotiations with China.
The actions of the US government on the 6th also seem to show its repeated wavering mentality. The New York Times said that Biden used emergency authorization on the 6th, citing the prospect of a power shortage in the United States, to exempt solar components imported from Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia from tariffs for a period of two years. The White House statement said factors such as disruptions to energy markets caused by the conflict in Russia and Ukraine and extreme weather events caused by climate change are threatening the United States' ability to provide adequate electricity to its citizens. In recent years, the vast majority of solar modules installed in the United States have been imported, with modules from Southeast Asia accounting for about three-quarters of imported modules in 2020. But recently, U.S. companies have been unable to import solar modules due to an investigation by the Commerce Department. The statement also said that Biden will use the Defense Production Act authorization to speed up the manufacture of solar modules in the United States.
It is worth noting that the White House's statement was just over two months after the US Department of Commerce announced an investigation into solar products in four Southeast Asian countries. The Wall Street Journal said the U.S. Commerce Department announced at the end of March that it would investigate whether Chinese solar module makers do business in Southeast Asian countries to avoid high tariffs on entering the U.S. market. U.S.-based Oxin Solar, which requested the investigation, said Chinese manufacturers avoided U.S. tariffs by shifting production to neighboring countries. On the 6th, Rashid, the company's chief executive, accused Biden of "illegally interfering in the investigation" and "opening the door for special interest groups funded by China." Qicha, head of the American Clean Power Association, praised the government's actions to restore the vitality of solar energy construction and domestic production in the United States, restore predictability and business certainty, and help achieve emission reduction goals.
The "Wall Street Journal" said on the 7th that some people questioned Biden's overreach, arguing that the use of this emergency power is extremely rare, and using it to cancel an ongoing trade investigation sets a dangerous precedent. U.S. government officials said the administration's actions would not interfere with the Commerce Department's investigation. The plan would create a "transition period" during which U.S. solar developers would be able to temporarily get supply while solar panel makers could build up limited capacity. In the United States, solar developers and installers far outnumber solar panel manufacturers.
"Isn't this a gift to China?"
The controversy over the import of solar products is only the tip of the iceberg of contradictions between various interest groups in the United States. Washington has been at the center of this "PV debate." The New York Times said that on the one hand, Biden wants to ensure sufficient and cheap supply of solar panels during a period of high inflation, so that the stalled solar energy projects in the United States can get back on track and help realize his "climate ambitions." But the decision would delay other goals of the White House: punishing Chinese companies for "trade irregularities" and weakening Beijing's role in global supply chains. According to the report, although American companies have long introduced solar technology, in recent decades, China has begun to dominate the global solar manufacturing industry, and the United States has since started a "whack-a-mole" counterattack. In 2011 and 2015, the United States successively imposed tariffs on solar products from mainland China and Taiwan on the grounds of "illegal subsidies". In June 2021, the U.S. government added a number of solar material producers in Xinjiang, China to the sanctions list on the grounds of “forced labor.”
"Isn't this a gift to China to cancel tariffs on solar products from Southeast Asian countries?" a reporter asked at the White House press conference on the 6th. White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre categorically denied that, saying the measures did not involve China, but were only intended to ensure the reliability of U.S. electricity supply, reduce the cost of living for American households, and allow solar manufacturers to move forward with projects, "from mainland China and Taiwanese solar panels will continue to be subject to tariffs."
The Biden administration hastily interrupted the Commerce Department's investigation to liberalize duty-free imports of solar products from the Southeast Asian nation, against the backdrop of sluggish public opinion faced by the Democratic administration ahead of the midterm elections. "Wall Street Journal" released on the 7th "National Center for Public Opinion Research" a new survey said that Americans are deeply pessimistic about their own economy, about 83% of respondents describe the country's economic situation as "bad" or "not very good" ". The comments said Americans were in a low mood and dissatisfaction with the economy was at the highest level in years. This pessimism is not limited to current economic conditions, and the US political system, its role as a global leader, and its ability to help many people realize the American Dream are also in doubt.
"Whether to cancel the tariffs on China, Biden has made a preliminary judgment"
"Biden is as anxious as an ant on a hot pot because of inflation," South Korea's "World Daily" reported on the 7th that in the face of inflation, even the once stormy US-China trade war lost momentum. Senior officials of the Biden administration have publicly stated that they will withdraw some of the tariffs imposed on Chinese products because of concerns about domestic public opinion in the United States before the mid-term elections. The latest polls in the United States show that only 28% of Americans believe that the Biden administration has "adequate measures" in curbing inflation. Recently, Biden's approval rate has dropped to 36%, the lowest value since he took office. The removal of a slew of tariffs, including on Chinese goods, could reduce U.S. inflation by 1.3 percentage points, according to research by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).
He Weiwen, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times reporter on the 7th that from Biden's recent speeches, he himself has made a preliminary judgment on whether to cancel tariffs on China, and he is inclined to at least partially cancel them. tariff. Right now, Biden's most important domestic task is to curb inflation, and eliminating tariffs is one of his options. The various conflicting voices within the U.S. government on whether to lift tariffs on China are all based on U.S. interests. If there were no inflation problems in the United States, the debate on removing tariffs might not exist at all.
On the morning of the 7th local time, US Treasury Secretary Yellen was questioned by the Senate Finance Committee. Reuters said Yellen faced "torture" from lawmakers over her "wrong" forecast of U.S. inflation. In her speech, she said that the United States is facing an "unacceptable level of inflation" and must introduce appropriate fiscal measures that do not harm the U.S. economy.
