The US Trade Representative's statements on tariffs against China are inconsistent, and experts analyze the core reasons

On the 25th, US Trade Representative Greer publicly stated that the United States will seek to maintain unchanged tariffs on China. According to reports, he told Fox Business Channel, "The current tariff rate is 10%, and some countries will raise it to 15%. Other countries may have higher tariff rates, and I believe this will continue our previous tariff adjustment model." When asked if he was willing to impose new high tariffs on Chinese goods that could undermine the fragile trade ceasefire, Greer said, "We have no intention of raising the tariff rate above the current level. We intend to effectively abide by the agreement reached with China

Before stating that tariffs on China would remain unchanged, Greer had stated that he would continue to advance the "301 investigation" against China. Reuters reported on the 20th that the Office of the United States Trade Representative will initiate multiple new investigations under Section 301, covering most major trading partners and areas such as drug pricing. Greer revealed that the Office of the United States Trade Representative plans to accelerate the investigation process, emphasizing that tariffs will be one of the available tools if unfair trade practices are found.

Regarding Greer's remarks regarding China's implementation of the first phase of the China US economic and trade agreement through the "301 investigation", a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce responded on the 25th, stating that after the first phase of the agreement came into effect in early 2020, China adhered to the spirit of the contract, worked hard to overcome the sudden impact of the epidemic and the subsequent supply chain disruptions, global economic recession and other adverse factors, conscientiously fulfilled its obligations under the agreement, and has fulfilled its commitments as scheduled in strengthening intellectual property protection, promoting financial and agricultural product market opening, and fully fulfilled its obligations in expanding trade cooperation. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce also stated that if the US insists on advancing the relevant investigation and even imposes restrictive measures such as tariffs under the pretext of investigation, China will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its legitimate rights and interests.

Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times reporter that the core reason for Greer's inconsistent statements is that, on the one hand, the deep-rooted hegemonic mentality of the United States has determined that the strategy of containing China's development has not changed. However, the United States still needs China's cooperation and support on many economic and global issues, which makes its China policy show a clear contradiction between "containment" and "dependence"; On the other hand, in the domestic political arena of the United States, there has been a long-standing tug of war between hardliners and relatively rational factions towards China, and the differences in policy towards China among different forces have been projected onto official statements, causing confusion and contradictions in policy signals.