· U.S. tariffs on China: “At the moment we are not negotiating anything with the PRC on trade, but one day we may be back at the table, in which case these tariffs will be useful as leverage, right?” One reason for the continuation of the tariffs “is we really haven’t seen the PRC make any changes to its fundamental systemic structural policies that would make sense for us to provide any relaxation,” she said.
· Worker-centered approach: The Biden administration sees tariffs as “useful, especially if you can combine them with other economic policies” designed to help workers, she said. Tariffs can also be an “effective part of a new kind of industrial policy that both allows you to try to level the playing field and to create this defensive wall to prevent these unfairly produced, excessively produced goods from flowing into your market,” Tai said.
· Trade policy coordination: “I would say on say the EV tariffs, the solar tariffs, steel and aluminum, you see us really converging around a more coordinated kind of defense with the Canadians, even with the Mexicans to some degree,” she said. The U.S. still has “challenges with Mexico, but the Mexicans did something very important when on steel for example, they increased their tariffs on all their non-FTA partners in August of 2023,” according to Tai. “Then also with the Europeans too, actually creating a defensive system on EVs.”
· WTO leadership race: “There’s a period of time when others who may be interested can throw their hat in the ring. And then once you know what the field looks like, then there’s a whole other process that goes from there,” Tai said. Because it’s a process that’ll take several months, “I think that that’s what you’re seeing playing out in Geneva right now,” she said. “From our perspective, we are going to ensure that the integrity of the process is respected.”
