Trade Subcommittee Chair Says Some China Tariffs Should Be Dropped

The Trump administration's Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports caused "a lot of damage to American consumers and business," and "we are no better off" after the phase one trade deal with China, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., told reporters during a roundtable discussion Thursday. Though stopping short of arguing the tariffs should be rolled back en masse, he did say there should be an effort to "take them one by one and make some adjustments." Some Section 301 tariffs could be changed in a process that need not be "politically toxic," he said. "The mess that Biden inherited takes some time to sort out," said Blumenauer. Customs and Border Protection collected more than $113.55 billion in Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods from U.S. importers through Nov. 17 since the first of the tariffs took effect in July 2018.