The United States is considering raising taxes on China to curb inflation, suspend gas taxes

Two senior officials said Sunday that the U.S. government is considering cutting some tariffs on China and suspending the federal gas tax in the face of rising petrol prices and inflation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said some of the taxes imposed on China by former President Donald Trump’s administration were “not of any strategic purpose” and that President Joe Biden was reviewing them to try to reduce inflation.

Another Biden executive, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, said the president was considering raising the federal gas tax as an option to reduce prices.

On Sunday, officials said the Biden administration was struggling to cope with inflation and recorded gas prices.

Cleveland Federal Reserve Chair Loretta Mester says it will take two years for inflation to reach the central bank’s 2% target, which is gradually “declining”.

Speaking to ABC News, Yellen said the government was reviewing its tariff policy for China, but did not name details and declined to say when the decision would be made.

“We all recognize that China engages in many unfair trade practices that are important to deal with, but the tariffs we have inherited are not of some strategic purpose and add to the cost to consumers,” he added.

Yellen did not list specific fees and Biden management declined to comment when making a decision on the matter.

In the midst of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies, Biden said in 2018 and 2019 he would consider removing some of the tariffs imposed by his predecessor on hundreds of billions of dollars on Chinese goods.