Remove trade war tariffs ahead of Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting, US business groups urge

Two dozen American business associations sent a letter to senior US trade officials on Friday, urging the White House to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods and broaden the scope of import duty exemptions to restore the competitiveness of US businesses.

In the letter, addressed to US trade representative Katherine Tai and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the group urged the administration to remove the tariffs and requested “immediate action to significantly broaden the tariff exclusion process to provide additional relief to Americans”.

“[Tariffs] continue to disproportionately cause economic harm to US businesses, farmers, workers, and families,” said the associations, which were led by the US-China Business Council (USCBC), a non-profit trade organisation representing more than 200 US companies.

The letter, signed by 24 other associations, including the American Association of Exporters and Importers, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the Semiconductor Industry Association, was sent just days before this week’s much-anticipated virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.