The GOP is likely to portray Biden’s attempt in Bali this week to ease tensions with China as a sign of weakness rather than a cause for celebration. Biden met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit on Monday and pledged to resume some contacts that had been severed in recent months.
Republicans gained House control in the 8 November midterm vote, winning at least the 218 needed of 435 seats, according to the Associated Press tally. Democrats kept narrow control of the Senate. Biden has kept in place about $300 -billion in tariffs on Chinese goods that were first imposed more than four years ago by former president Donald Trump.
Some Republicans will probably renew a push for tariff exemptions on certain imports from China needed by US manufacturers, said Robert Holleyman, who helped lead engagement with the nation as deputy US trade representative under President Barack Obama and is now a partner at the law firm Crowell and Moring LLP.