The US should continue practising open trade and refrain from implementing punitive tariffs on the import of various Chinese goods, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday.
During a press briefing, the director of the IMF’s communications department Julie Kozack said “the US would be better served by maintaining open trade policies,” highlighting the instrumental role of free trade in the country’s economy.
She also urged the US and China to “find a solution that addresses the underlying concerns that have exacerbated trade tensions between the two countries.”
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden announced a series of tariff increases on a number of Chinese products. The China-bashing move is ostensibly in response to what his administration considers to be China’s unfair trade policies, but has also been seen as a populist political ploy as he faces a reelection campaign.
[See more: China says Biden’s imposition of punitive tariffs is a political ploy]
Among the products that have been affected are electric vehicles, where import levies will rise from 25 percent to 100 percent. Similarly, semiconductors and solar cells will see their tariffs increased to 50 percent.
Biden noted that the domestic industries producing such goods were being threatened by what he characterised as China’s non-market practices, forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft. He pointed out that “American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone – as long as they have fair competition.”
While the new tariffs have raised trade tensions between the two countries, they apply only to US$18 billion of the US$448 billion worth of goods the US imports each year.
In response to the tariff hike, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would be enacting retaliatory measures. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, meanwhile, said the US action, was “the quintessential example of bullying in the world today.”
