US ‘Not Giving Up on Pressing China’ on Trade, Tai Tells Senate Finance

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai denied Thursday in a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the need she identified a day earlier before House Ways and Means to “turn the page on the old playbook” (see 2203300051) meant that the Biden administration was walking away from holding China accountable for its commitments under the phase one trade agreement. The U.S. needs to “stick with” phase one and enforce the agreement’s “dispute resolution” provisions, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Tai. “If we just say we’re going to forget that and make that part of the old playbook, I think it sends a terrible message,” said Portman, the former USTR under President George W. Bush. “When China makes an agreement with us, in order to fulfill their obligations, we have to exercise our legal rights.” The old playbook, responded Tai, “focused exclusively on pressuring China” to curb its bad trade behavior. “We are not giving up on pressing China,” she said. “All tools remain on the table with respect to dispute settlement and enforcement,” said Tai. “In fact, what I’m saying is we’re committing to doing more work, and our strategy needs to expand.”