Grassley Says China Tariffs Would Come Off in Phases

The Senate Finance Committee chairman said that both China and the U.S. will step down Section 301 tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs in phases, with each side lifting the tariff at roughly the same time if they believe the other side is complying with a trade deal in good faith. He said the reductions will probably be done in tranches. "Over how long a period of time, I don't know," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters on a call on April 24. "But there won't be a 100 percent reduction of tariffs on the day the agreement's signed."

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing for another round of trade talks on April 30, the White House announced the evening of April 23. China's Vice Premier Liu He will come to Washington for more discussions on May 8.

Grassley also talked about congressional ambition for trade issues. He told a reporter that ratification of the new NAFTA is not imperiled by the current tension between the White House and the House majority over Democrats' request for copies of Trump's taxes and seeking to interview some former White House staffers about their testimony for the Mueller Report. "I don’t think it’s quite the problem you see, but if it is a problem, House Democrats shouldn’t play games on trade. Agriculture and the economy generally depends on those agreements getting through."

While Grassley acknowledged that the International Trade Commission's estimate that agriculture imports would increase by $435 million under the new deal "may seem like a pretty small number," it's good, considering that NAFTA already eliminated most agricultural tariffs.

When asked about timing for introducing his bill to restrict the president's ability to impose Section 232 tariffs, Grassley said, "We’re still negotiating between the two Republican senators and we’ve also got to include Democrats in it because we gotta get a huge vote for it, because it could be vetoed by the president." Grassley's staff is working to bridge the difference between bills sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey and Sen. Rob Portman, and their compromise would allow tariffs to go into effect, but would not allow them to continue after a certain period without congressional approval.

Asked by International Trade Today when the starting date of that period would be for the existing Section 232 tariffs on metals, Grassley said he didn't want to comment on things that are still being negotiated. It's possible that the bill might not touch the existing tariffs at all, he said. "I don’t think there’s a conclusion on it."