U.S. rethinking China tariffs over Taiwan: sources
STORY: After months of deliberating on just how to ease Trump-era tariffs, in order to tamp down on skyrocketing inflation, the U.S. is now recalibrating its thinking in light of China's war games around Taiwan.
That's according to sources close to the matter.
With the November midterm elections looming, and the threat of losing one or both chambers in Congress to Republicans, easing inflation would be a major notch on Democratic President Joe Biden's belt.
For months, Biden's administration has been considering lifting tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods.
They've also discussed launching an investigation into other Chinese imports that could potentially lead to additional tariffs.
But sources say that Biden will now be setting aside all of those options - for now.
That's after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit last week to Taiwan led to days of Chinese military exercises around the self-governed island, which China claims as its own -- including ballistic missile launches and simulated attacks.
In light of Beijing's response, Washington is treading carefully.
It is eager not to do anything that could be viewed by China as an escalation.
It also wants to avoid being seen as retreating in the face of the communist country's aggression.
The White House said that Biden has not made a decision on the tariffs issue and that all options remain on the table.
