To pressure the Chinese government. Without giving details, the report indicates that the U.S. is also exploring ways to use trade tools strategically as needed in order to have a level playing field with China for U.S. workers and companies.
Under the previous presidency of Donald Trump, the U.S. imposed tariffs on about $360 billion worth of Chinese goods, which remain in place under President Joe Biden.
To ease tensions, the U.S. and Canada reached a trade deal in January 2020 in which China agreed to buy more U.S. agricultural exports, benefiting Trump supporters in the country’s agricultural heartland.
But Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for Global Trade estimated in a report released last week that China has bought only 57% of what it promised.
