Hawley introducing legislation revoking China’s normal trade relations status

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is launching a legislative push to end the normalized trade relationship between the U.S. and China as tensions between the two countries flare.

The bill from Hawley, which his office said is set to be introduced on Tuesday, would revoke normalized trade relation status from China within two years. The bill was first reported by Politico.

Hawley’s legislation would allow the U.S. to subject Chinese imports to higher tariffs and allow the president to place even higher tax rates on select imports.

The normalized trade relationship between the two countries has existed since 2000. In that time China grew to be America’s leading trade partner, with nearly $560 billion in two-way trade between the two countries in 2020.

Former President Trump frequently called out the trade relationship with China, arguing the U.S. was getting taken advantage of and pointing to the U.S.’s trade deficit with China, which was more than $285 billion in 2020.

Many Republicans in Congress are now calling on the Biden administration to showcase strength against the Chinese government. The rupture between the U.S. and China was accentuated when a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew across the U.S. earlier this year.

The bill from Hawley also comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. The U.S. has warned Chinese leadership to not provide Russia with lethal aid in its war against Ukraine.