- President Biden said that the lifting of import tariffs on Chinese goods is "under consideration."
- Biden made the remarks at a Tokyo press conference with Japan's prime minister.
- It follows comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said she supported lifting some tariffs.
President Joe Biden said he is considering lifting tariffs on Chinese goods that were introduced by the Trump administration.
Biden was speaking at a joint news conference with Japan's prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in Tokyo.
Biden said: "I am considering it, we did not impose any of those tariffs — they were imposed by the last administration, and they're under consideration."
The Trump administration started imposing tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018. Around two-thirds of Chinese imports to the US are subject to 25% tariffs, according to the Washington Post.
The news follows comments from the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said on Wednesday that she supported lifting some tariffs amid high US inflation. Insider previously reported that US inflation hit a 41-year high in March 2022.
Speaking at a press conference in Germany on May 18, Yellen criticized the Trump administration's tariffs on China.
She said: "I've said previously that I think that some of the tariffs that were imposed by President Trump in retaliation for China's unfair trade practices, some of them, to me seem as though they impose more harm on consumers and businesses."
Yellen added that the current tariffs "aren't very strategic in the sense of addressing real issues we have with China — whether it concerns supply chain vulnerabilities, national security issues, or other unfair trade practices."
Biden said at the Tokyo press conference that he would be speaking to Yellen about the tariffs when he returned to the US.