The Biden administration is in the middle of a review of its predecessor’s record on China, including its trade policy actions. The verdict won’t be positive.
Former President Donald Trump’s tariffs on $550 billion worth of Chinese imports and Beijing’s commitment to increased purchases of U.S. products under the Phase One agreement signed in January 2020—prominent examples of the previous White House’s “negotiate bilaterally, punish unilaterally” approach to trade policy—did nothing to change the most troublesome aspect of China’s economic behavior: its subsidies to its state-owned enterprises. By creating unfair competition for U.S. workers, these subsidies continue to threaten equity at home. And by undermining multilateral rules, they weaken the World Trade Organization (WTO) through which the United States has traditionally pursued its interests in the global economy.
