- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
Tariffs have not forced China to change its ways, US trade chief says
Rather than pressuring China to change its "unfair" trade practices, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai said Wednesday the economy would better served by policies to encourage domestic manufacturing.
In a four-hour hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, President Joe Biden's trade chief acknowledged that Washington's strategy of imposing massive tariffs on Beijing -- which began under former president Donald Trump -- has had little to no effect on its policies.
"That has not incentivized China to change," she said. "It is very clear to us, I think, collectively, that we can't keep doing what we have been doing."
Washington has accused Beijing of subsidizing its exports and wiping out industries both in the United States and Europe, forcing companies to transfer technology in exchange for doing business in China, and stealing intellectual property.
In 2020, the countries signed the "phase one" trade agreement under which Washington agreed to ease off tariffs the Trump administration imposed two years earlier, in exchange for China buying $200 billion in American exports through 2021.
However Beijing fell short of those targets when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and Tai told lawmakers, "While we continue to keep the door open to conversations with China... we also need to acknowledge the agreement's limitations, and turn the page on the old playbook with China, which focused on changing its behavior."
- Making amends -
Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has resolved a number of trade disputes with US allies, including a deal announced last week to lift tariffs on British steel and aluminum that Trump imposed.
However there's been no similar breakthrough with China, despite Tai's renewed negotiations with its officials.
Last week, Washington agreed to extend tariff exemptions on 352 products imported from the Asian country after businesses complained the levies were driving up costs as the United States grapples with high inflation.
In her appearance before Congress, Tai stressed that the US strategy must now "expand beyond only pressing China" into abandoning trade practices Washington views as unfair.
The new approach must "include vigorously defending our values and economic interests from the negative impacts of the PRC's unfair economic policies and practices," she said, using the official term for the People's Republic of China.
"We can't just wait for China to change," she said, calling for "the reshoring and the rebuilding of our manufacturing base."
"That is the plan that we need to pursue going forward," Tai said.
China is aiming to grow its industries making products like electric cars and semiconductors, and Tai said the United States should make "strategic investments" to match them.
"We have seen what happened in the steel and solar industries when existing mechanisms were too slow or ill-suited to effectively address the distortions wrought by China's targeting of those sectors," she said.
The trade chief called on lawmakers to approve the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which has been approved by the House and Senate and is now in conference committee.
The measure would spend $52 billion on domestic semiconductor production and research as well as spurring manufacturing and strengthening supply chains.
Tai also credited the American Rescue Plan stimulus measure passed shortly after Biden took office last year with making "significant progress" in helping businesses grappling with the pandemic.
L.Henrique--PC