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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China-US trade war: American retailers claim tariffs on Chinese goods hurt business during pandemic

  • Seven US trade groups filed a brief to the US Court of International Trade to address escalating US tariffs imposed on most Chinese goods
  • It comes after 30 business groups called on US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and USTR Katherine Tai to return to the negotiating table with China

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A group of US trade groups have argued to the US Court of International Trade that tariffs on Chinese goods result in higher prices for US consumers. Photo: Bloomberg
Sarah Zheng
United States retailer associations have argued that US tariffs on Chinese products are hurting business, in the latest call on President Joe Biden’s administration by domestic business groups to resume trade talks with China.
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Seven trade groups – including the National Retail Federation (NRF), the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), the Consumer Technology Association and the Toy Association – filed a brief to the US Court of International Trade on Monday to support businesses and workers negatively affected by the series of escalating US tariffs imposed on most Chinese goods.

The billions of dollars in duties were enacted by the US Trade Representative (USTR) after a Section 301 investigation in 2018 found China had engaged in unfair trade practices such as intellectual property theft, prompting a trade war with Chinese retaliatory tariffs on US imports.

“Thousands of American businesses have been forced to pay these taxes to import Chinese goods and products, which ultimately results in higher prices for US consumers,” the NRF said in a release, detailing its latest brief. “The Biden administration has kept these tariffs in place when American businesses are doing their best to safely serve customers and keep workers on their payrolls during the pandemic.”

It claimed that the USTR had accelerated its comment period for the tariffs and had not fully considered concerns raised by businesses, and said the tariffs had had a “significant adverse impact on the US economy”.

Last week, more than 30 business groups, also including the NRF and AAFA, called on US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and USTR Katherine Tai to return to the negotiating table with China. The joint letter said China had met “important benchmarks and commitments” in the phase one trade agreement signed between the two countries in January 2020, but that more work was needed to ensure Beijing addressed structural commitments such as in intellectual property protection, Chinese state subsidies and cybersecurity.

The letter said the groups recognised that “fully resolving tariffs is unlikely, absent substantially more progress by China on core issues”, but that the Biden administration should redouble efforts for China to meet its phase one commitments and increase broader economic and trade engagement to further open China’s market.

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