US Seeks To Deploy Tariffs In A Smart And Strategic Way -- Sullivan

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (KUNA) -- US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said his country's tariff approach, rolled out a few weeks ago, was very much targeted at a specific set of high impact industries "in which we are investing substantially in electric vehicles and semiconductors and other areas."
"So from our perspective, that is the right model, the right way to go forward, and that is the stamp that the Biden administration has put on the question of how to deploy tariffs in a smart and strategic way," he said in a speech on the US international economic agenda at Brookings Institution on Wednesday.
"And by the way, if you look at the European Union, you look at other countries that I listed in my speech, across multiple continents, they are taking a similar approach because they too recognize the fundamental threat to their industries, their vitality from the kind of overcapacity - overcapacity that we've seen from the PRC (People's Republic of China) and these key sectors. --
"I can't really say to our allies and partners. I can't really say much more than what I said in my speech," Sullivan pointed out.
"What I do believe very much is that the volume of concern, even in some cases, alarm, about elements in the IRA when it came out, after the work that we have done now for two years to align efforts to explain what it is and what It's not, has put us in a markedly better position with our allies and partners, and has also led many of our allies and partners to say, hey, we get what the United States is doing.
"We want to do something along those lines. And frankly, we'd like the US is help in doing that. And our answer to that is yes, that is part of what we're trying to do in aligning and energizing our foreign policy is to create not just a sense of ambition in the investment here in the United States, but in our allies and partners too, because we believe that that is in our interest," he went on.
"We continue to believe deeply in the mutual benefits of international trade and investment, enhanced and enabled by both public investment in key sectors founded in rare and essential cases by principal controls on key national security technologies, protected against harmful non market practices, labor and environment abuses and economic coercion and critically coordinated with a broad range of partners.
"The challenges we face are not uniquely our own and nor can we solve them alone. We want and need our partners to join us, and given the demand signal we hear back from them, we think that in the next decade, American leadership will be measured by our ability to help our partners pull off similar approaches and build alignment and complementarity across our policies and our investments.--
"So we are not walking away from international trade investment, what we are doing is moving away from specific policies that frankly, didn't contemplate the urgent challenges we face.
"The climate crisis, vulnerable, concentrated, critical mineral and semiconductor supply chains, persistent attacks on workers' rights and not just more global competition, but more competition with a country that uses pervasive non market policies and practices to distort and dominate global markets.
"Ignoring or downplaying these realities will not help us chart a viable path forward. Our approach to trade responds to these challenges. Climate is a good example. American manufacturers are global leaders in clean steel production, yet they've had to compete against companies that produce steel more cheaply but with higher emissions intensity.
"That's why earlier this year, the White House stood up a climate and trade Task Force, and the task force has been developing the right tools to promote decarbonization and ensure our workers and businesses engaged in cleaner production aren't disadvantaged by firms overseas engaged in dirtier, exploitative production.
"Critical minerals are another example that sector is marked by extreme price volatility, widespread corruption, weak labor and environmental protections and heavy concentration in the PRC, which artificially drops prices to keep competitors out of the marketplace.
"If we and our partners fail to invest The PRCs, domination of these and other supply chains will only grow, and that will leave us increasingly dependent on a country that has demonstrated its willingness to weaponize such dependencies.
"We can't accept that, and neither can our partners. That's why we're working with them to create a high standard, critical mineral marketplace, one that diversifies our supply chains, creates a level playing field for our producers, and promotes strong workers rights and environmental protections, and we're driving towards tangible progress on that idea in just the next few weeks in multiple sectors that are important to our future, not just critical minerals, but solar cells, lithium ion batteries, electric vehicles, we see a broad pattern emerging.
"The PRC is producing far more than domestic demand, dumping excess onto global markets at artificially low prices, driving manufacturers around the world out of business and creating a chokehold on supply chains.
"To prevent a second China shock, we've had to act. That's what broke the decisions about our 301 tariffs. Now we know that indiscriminate, broad based tariffs will harm workers, consumers and businesses, both in the United States and our partners.
"The evidence on that is clear. That's why we chose tariffs and unfair practices in strategic sectors where we and our allies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild our manufacturing and our resilience, and crucially, we're seeing partners in both advanced and emerging economies reach similar conclusions regarding over capacity and take similar steps to ward off damage to their own industries, from the EU to Canada to Brazil to Thailand to Mexico to Turkey and beyond, that's a big deal, And it brings me back to my earlier point.
"We're pursuing this new trade approach in concert with our partners. They also recognize we need modern trade tools to achieve our objectives. That means considering sector specific trade accounts," Sullivan explained.
"-- And we are trying to align our approach with as many countries as possible, not to create some giant economic confrontation, but to create a more fair, durable and resilient global economy," he added. (end)
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