U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai announced that she is suspending all trade ties with Burma.
This comes after a weekend of violence against pro-democracy protestors, which killed a hundred civilians. Among the dead are students, labor workers, and children. The country is in the middle of a military coup after the elected leader was arrested.
The Biden administration says that the suspension will remain in effect until they return to a “democratically elected government.”
U.S. ag exports to Burma rose 80 fold in the last decade reaching roughly $167 million dollars in soy, distiller grains, and wheat last year.
Tai also says that she is not ready to lift China tariffs. She tells the Wall Street Journal that she does not have any immediate plans to ease the Trump-era tariffs because they give the Biden administration a bargaining chip in talks with Beijing.
Though there are no specific details on the administration’s plans for tariffs, Tai says that any changes would need to be communicated so actors in the economy have the ability to plan.
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