Judith Bannon: Biden must end failed trade policy that has hurt Pennsylvanians
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President Joe Biden recently made his first return to his hometown of Scranton since being elected president one year ago. This time, he came to tout legislative priorities that are focused on bolstering the nation’s infrastructure and continuing to create jobs as our nation emerges from the depths of the covid-19 pandemic.
During the visit, Biden rightly talked about how we can ensure the American economy remains competitive for years to come, even going so far as to say that the bills his administration is working to pass are about “competitiveness versus complacency” and “not having opportunity denied” as lawmakers seek to keep the American economy strong.
It’s admirable that the Biden administration is pushing for important investments in things like infrastructure, but at the same time, it’s frustrating that the administration has so far failed to pull one of the most powerful levers it has available to help the economy stay competitive on a global scale while maximizing opportunities for American business owners and workers by ending the trade war with China that former President Donald Trump started more than three years ago.
Even despite correctly acknowledging on the campaign trail that Trump’s trade war with China caused “significant pain and uncertainty” for the American economy, current United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai has opted to leave the tariffs implemented by the last administration in place.
Then-candidate Biden was right when he said “President Trump may think he’s being tough on China. All that he’s delivered as a consequence of that is American farmers, manufacturers and consumers losing and paying more.” Now, it’s time for his administration to live up to that and bring the trade war to an end.
The tariffs that the previous administration implemented have not been paid by China, they have been paid by American businesses, farmers, manufacturers and families. They are taxes on more than $350 billion in imports from China, with U.S. Customs and Border protection collecting more than $100 billion from the levies to date. The longer these tariffs remain in place, the greater the harm they do to key sectors of Pennsylvania’s economy.
From the very beginning, Pennsylvanians have been among those most severely hurt by the trade war with China. Key industries like agriculture, manufacturing and hardwoods have all suffered under the weight of the costs created by these tariffs, and leaving those costs in place only makes the damage worse. At a time when we should be making use of every measure possible to expand opportunity for American industry, we are overlooking one of the simplest ways to do so in favor of prolonged fights in Congress.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was right to point out recently that tariffs raise costs for U.S. businesses and consumers, and that should guide Biden and Tai as they continue to build on their strategy for trade with China. As candidate Biden pointed out, the administration can be tough on China’s trade abuses without being tough on hardworking everyday Americans, which is precisely why the trade war needs to end.
The fights on Capitol Hill over how to boost the American economy will go on. As they do, the Biden administration should keep in mind all of the options it has for doing that itself. Right now, one of the easiest is to close the book on more than three years of failed tariffs on imports from China. They did not work for Trump, and they aren’t working for Biden.
Judith Bannon is CEO and founder of Cribs for Kids.