Former President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, sign the U.S. China Phase One Trade Agreement, January 15, 2020. Credit: Trump White House Archived/Shealah Craighead via Flickr
President Biden’s team has turned its attention to one of the cornerstones of his predecessor’s China policy as it battles soaring inflation — the tariffs that target hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports, ranging from photosensitive semiconductors to dog food.
Data: U.S. International Trade Commission
Many observers agree that Section 301 tariffs introduced under President Trump have contributed to consumer price inflation climbing to an annual rate of 8.6 percent in May, the highest level for four decades, by increasing the price of Chinese-made goods. Still, opinion is divided over whether reversing some or all of the tariffs now would make much of a dent in the rate of U.S. price rises — and what signal such a move would send to China.
This week, The Wire analyzes the cost of the tariffs, what imports have been hit the hardest, and how they have impacted the cost of everyday household goods — and asks whether they have achieved their goal
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Did Eric Dai expose a Chinese scheme to steal critical military technology? Or did he steal millions of dollars from a Chinese company by exploiting geopolitical tensions? It's not entirely clear, but Dai's saga hits all the high notes of current U.S.-China tensions, including convoluted plots to illicitly acquire U.S. semiconductor technology and extraterritorial schemes to harass, intimidate and coerce the Chinese diaspora. What is clear is that, for Dai, who founded a successful Chinese investment firm but is now seeking asylum in the U.S., it feels like World War III.
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