As President Joe Biden debates whether to lift Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports, his cabinet is split over a politically fraught issue that could influence the November congressional midterm elections.When he entered office, Biden suggested that he was in no rush to remove the tariffs that Donald Trump had placed on more than $300bn of Chinese goods during his trade war with Beijing.
Yet as inflation has soared to 8.6 per cent, the White House is debating whether lifting some tariffs would help provide some relief to US consumers.
While the desire to curb inflation is acute, officials and experts familiar with the debate say there are deep divisions in the administration, partly reflecting the fraught politics of China trade issues.