On November 16, 2023, Ashley Craig was quoted in Yahoo Finance regarding tariff discussions between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to the article, the summit created news on issues ranging from military communications to fentanyl, but avoided the topic of trade despite a looming deadline on the Trump-era tariffs on a range of Chinese goods.
"Ever since Biden was elected, the trade community had hoped for a reversal of the Trump-era trade tariffs," said Craig.
But his prediction for 2024 is that "the president's not going to substantially modify the current status on US-Sino trade relations going into next year and the election; that's just not going to work with his base."
In any case, the business world has largely adapted to the tariffs, said Craig.
"Keep in mind that even though the trade community despises the 301 structure, we are now years deep into it and most, if not all, US companies have pivoted," noting that companies long ago took measures to minimize, or at least factor in, the increased costs.
When asked what companies are expecting from Washington, Craig added, "Our clients are not really holding their breath."
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