Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
December 14, 2023
We wish every US politician was as honest as the current Trade Representative Kathrine Tai! The reality is that nothing is pure: free trade, free speech, free election, democracy…all the US core values etc.
One reader’s commented:
“There’s no such thing as pure free trade,” Tai said.
So, US had been lying about “Free Trade” for at least 78 years since WWII.
But in fact, Tai is merely being practical because she was defending US imposed tariffs against China. Or she is being practical: adopting similar industrial policies that Beijing has used to hinder American production and trade! The contradiction is that “China’s industries hinder American production and trade,” inevitably US tariff will further “hinder production and trade!” The global economy will not expand under US-China tariff wars.
Another reader’s commented:
Biden selected some leaders who are not mature enough. They are more looks like college students. More strange thing is, they don’t like Trump, but they think Trump’s policy is the best, so they just select to follow. Are they expecting to be hired by Trump when he comes back?
It is one of the reasons that Biden is trailing behind Trump in the polls for the 2024 general election.
‘There’s no such thing as pure free trade’: Katherine Tai defends China tariffs
Diego Mendoza
Wed, December 13, 2023 at 1:27 PM PST
The News
U.S. Trade Rep Katherine Tai defended tariffs against China at Semafor’s Made in America Event on Wednesday, saying that “tariffs are a part of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship” because of an “unfair” global economy.
“There’s no such thing as pure free trade,” Tai said, adding that China’s own tariffs and economic policy have allowed Beijing to dominate in certain global markets, chiefly electric vehicles.
The U.S. has “to get pragmatic in order to compete” with China, Tai said, which means adopting similar industrial policies that Beijing has used to hinder American production and trade.
“We can’t just rely on the promise of this very beautiful vision of a very pure free trade taking us to the promised land,” Tai said.
She acknowledged that Trump-era policies have hurt certain sectors of the U.S. economy but added that the backbone and justification for the tariffs have “been a source of longstanding bipartisan, nonpartisan economic concern.”
The Biden administration is currently reviewing the Trump-era China tariffs with stakeholders to determine whether they should stay in place, or be amended or dropped, putting the White House in a difficult position after promising to soothe relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping. There is bipartisan support to boost tariffs, but some business owners say that American manufacturers have not gained all the benefits promised to them.