A month into his presidency, Joe Biden has indicated he’s in no hurry to undo the punitive trade measure his predecessor placed on China. Biden has announced no policy changes so far, and none of the 32 executive orders he has signed involve China or trade.
Biden will eventually formulate his own China policy, probably with more emphasis on national security, human rights and climate change than under President Trump, who made trade the centerpiece of his China efforts. In the meanwhile, Biden seems increasingly likely to leave Trump’s policies in place, including the tariffs Trump imposed on about $250 billion of annual imports from China. That’s something of a surprise to investors who were expecting Biden to quickly break with Trump, as he has on numerous other issues.
“Early staffing decisions indicate less of a focus on economic ties and the trade deficit, pointing to a potentially longer than expected timeline to any adjustments in U.S. tariff policy,” analysts at investing firm Raymond James wrote in a Feb. 17 research note. “Incoming staff do not feel an urgent need to make near-term policy changes, including adjustment to tariffs, as the general sense is they have been less disruptive than originally feared.”
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday to review the global supply chains used by four key industries in an effort to avoid the shortages in medical equipment, semiconductors and other goods seen as critical during the pandemic.
China reliance targeted: Biden’s order will institute 100-day reviews of the global producers and shippers for: computer chips used in consumer products; large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles; pharmaceuticals and their active ingredients; and critical minerals used in electronics.
The reviews will seek to determine whether U.S. firms in these sectors are relying too much on foreign suppliers, particularly those in China, a senior administration official told reporters. They will also consider other vulnerabilities, like extreme weather and environmental factors.
“Clearly we are looking at the risks posed by dependence on competitor nations, but that is only one of a range of risks we are looking at,” the administration official said.
The order will also direct yearlong reviews for six sectors: defense, public health, information technology, transportation, energy and food production.
Those reviews will be “modeled after the process the Defense Department uses to regularly evaluate and strengthen the defense industrial base,” the official said.
