13 November 2020
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- [Herald Interview] Biden will be Tough on China, but Likely to Rescind Tariffs, Experts Say
[Herald Interview] Biden will be Tough on China, but Likely to Rescind Tariffs, Experts Say
US President-elect Joe Biden faces a number of crises at home, such as the coronavirus and its ensuing economic fallout, as well as a deep partisan divide and civil unrest. Such domestic imperatives cast doubts on how much Biden can do on the foreign policy front, especially in Asia. But he will no doubt be tough on China, a major threat to the US economy, experts told The Korea Herald, and he will likely do so by building a united front of allies and partners, rather than raging a trade war like current President Donald Trump has done. “While Biden is likely to continue to pressure China to reform its economy and level the playing field, he is not a fan of protectionism, and will work aggressively to rescind the tariffs because they are counterproductive, and end the trade war that Trump started,” Dr Evan Resnick, Assistant Professor at RSIS said in a phone interview. Dr Joseph Chin Yong Liow, Research Adviser at RSIS, also said the Biden administration will have to consider gradually easing tariffs on China. “Since the World Trade Organization has recently ruled unfavourably against the US for its tariffs against China, a Biden administration that is seeking to restore a multilateral order will have to consider gradually easing tariffs against the Chinese so as to demonstrate Washington’s own commitments to international rules-based order,” Liow wrote in a recent op-ed in the Asan Forum, an online publication of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
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Last updated on 13/11/2020
