White House debates to delay Biden’s plan for tariffs on key Chinese

The delay runs the risk of creating a deeper backlash against Democrats ahead of the midterms. Companies whose manufacturing costs rose because of the tariffs had expected Biden to roll back Trump’s trade wars. But Biden must also weigh those demands against his desire to appear tough on Beijing for an electorate that is increasingly anxious about China’s economic might, as well as the desires from his union supporters to preserve tariffs on key industries like steel.

“I have a lot of clients who were fed up with Trump and voted for a moderate, pro-business Biden,” said Brian Johnson, a principal at the Vogel Group, a corporate lobbying firm. “How much these policies dig into their bottom lines will affect their behavior.”

Trump’s trade legacy remains largely unchanged since Biden took office 10 months ago: Levies on $350 billion in Chinese goods are still in place. China also has failed to adhere to a deal it signed with Trump in early 2020 to buy $200 billion in U.S. farm products and other goods. Tai in an early October speech announced she’d restart talks on enforcing the trade deal and said the Biden administration doesn’t want to “inflame” tensions with China.

But Sullivan, one of the White House’s most aggressive China hawks, had pushed for announcement of additional moves toward higher tariffs on industries that Beijing is subsidizing during the administration’s months-long review of Trump’s trade policies, the people with knowledge of negotiations said.

Tai was opposed to moving that quickly, arguing that it would poison the new talks with Beijing and that the Biden administration should not abandon America’s previous trade commitments, even those made under Trump, the people said. Under trade law, the U.S. is required to start talks with a targeted nation before taking steps to add new tariffs.

The White House says that Biden’s team is now on the same page after the lengthy review of Trump’s trade policies, which involved input not just from Sullivan and Tai, but the departments of Commerce, Treasury and others.

“The Biden administration conducted a robust interagency review of the U.S.-China trade relationship to implement President Biden’s vision for rebalancing the U.S.-China trade and economic relationship in a way that protects American workers from unfair trade policies and strengthens the middle class,” said a senior administration official.

“The final decision had the full support of President Biden, the National Security Council and relevant agencies,” added a USTR spokesperson.

U.S. law requires the White House to first investigate whether a foreign government is improperly…