Commerce secretary says Biden weighing ‘potential labor implications’ before deciding whether to lift China tariffs

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that one of the things holding up President Biden from making a decision whether to lift Trump-era tariffs on China that some economists say could help ease inflation are the impacts such a move would have on labor unions.

Despite an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics that lifting tariffs on some Chinese-made products would save households hundreds of dollars, Biden is concerned about the support of unions in making this decision. 

“There are potential labor implications. One thing about this president is he will never do anything that he thinks will hurt workers in America, or union workers in America,” she said. 

“He’s being appropriately deliberative to make sure that, yes, he wants to reduce inflation and he wants to make it easier for consumers but he wants to be certain that when we do it, or if we do, that it won’t have any impact on American workers.”

Labor unions are actively campaigning against dropping tariffs on China, with multiple groups filing an official comment to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative earlier this month to advocate for the tariffs to stay in place.

Trump imposed numerous tariffs on China during his time in office, saying trading practices with the country were unfair to the U.S. The Biden administration has kept many of the tariffs in place despite indicating some of the policies need to be changed. 

The Commerce secretary herself advocated for dropping some of the tariffs, but there is no clear timeline on when the president will make a decision on the issue. 

Biden’s thinking could also be impacted by the midterm elections, where union support is a big help to Democrats in a year where Republicans are expected to pick up multiple seats.