During his 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden slammed former President Donald Trump for his protectionist policies, and especially for starting a trade war that raised prices for American consumers while sparking retaliation that hurt American farmers. But since entering office, Biden has done little to reverse the tariff hikes and trade barriers erected by his predecessor. And, more worrisome, he has reinforced a mounting bipartisan consensus that free trade is no longer in the interests of the American people.
Let’s start with the dragon in the room: China. Starting in 2018, the Trump administration boosted tariffs on Chinese imports from less than 4% on average to 19% by the time Trump left office. Biden not only kept all of those tariffs in place, but just this May, imposed further steep tariff hikes on another $18 billion worth of imports of electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, semiconductors, medical supplies, and other products.
