Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the administration has no plans to lower tariffs on Chinese goods in response to the coronavirus outbreak but might consider it in the future as it weighs the effects on the global economy.
“We’re not considering that at the moment,” Mnuchin said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday. He added that as the virus progresses, the administration would “look at all the options that we think are important” to help ailing sectors of the economy.
Mnuchin told the committee that his department had developed a “sub-task force” to assess the economic impact of the virus and make recommendations to Congress.
The Trump administration has 7.5% tariffs on $120 billion worth of Chinese goods and a 25% tariffs on another $250 billion worth of products despite reaching the “phase one” of a trade deal with China in December. The administration has said maintaining the tariffs is important to ensure that China abides by the terms of the deal.
[Also read: Congress poised to approve up to $8B for coronavirus response this week]
