If Elected, Biden Likely to Keep Trump’s China Tariffs in Place

Biden campaign depends heavily on union support

Former Vice President Joe Biden has loudly criticized President Trump’s international tariffs and trade wars, calling measures against China “reckless” and potentially “disastrous.” That doesn’t mean the election of the front-runner Biden will mean a wholesale revamp of US trade policy, or the end of all the new China tariffs.

Biden’s campaign depends on labor unions for backing, and those unions see the tariffs as a key protectionist measure that they very much want to keep. Even if they aren’t ideal for Biden’s platform, the tariffs will likely remain for political sake.

Putting new tariffs on China, and much of the world, to the extent done in recent years, normally wouldn’t be considered because of the political split toward protectionism in both parties. The same conflicting interests are likely to prevent a quick reversal.

Trump Administration tariffs on China have led to retaliatory tariffs which devastated parts of the US economy, particularly farmers. The trade wars cost the US importers $61.6 billion.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.