How Washington could fight America’s record inflation

  • Date: 16-Nov-2021
  • Source: Kuwait Times
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Kuwait
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How Washington could fight America’s record inflation

WASHINGTON: With US prices rising at a rate not seen in decades, President Joe Biden’s administration is looking for ways to turn the tide. From relaxing tariffs on China to addressing the semiconductor shortage, there are many actions Washington could take to keep price increases in check. However, analysts warn that few will offer immediate relief from the price surge that has struck the world’s largest economy this year as it bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic:

Roll back China tariffs

Under former president Donald Trump, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese products worth $370 billion in 2018, citing trade practices Washington deemed unfair. The Biden administration has kept those tariffs up, but announced it would review trade strategy towards China, as well as begin a process for some US firms to receive exemptions from the levies they say drive up costs.

China is the top supplier of goods to the United States, and Biden could choose to relax the tariffs further to address the price increases, which the Labor Department put at a year-on-year rate of 6.2 percent in October. In a Sunday interview with CBS, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was noncommittal about changing tariff policy, but acknowledged that “it would