Biden’s China tariff threats are more bark than bite, economists say

• The Biden administration has sent several signals of a toughening U.S. economic strategy against China, including raising tariffs on Chinese clean energy imports.
• Economists say tariff hikes might be more useful as a political tool for Biden's 2024 reelection bid rather than as an economic solution to the country's China woes.
• Tariffs can have unintended economic consequences that lower GDP, raise consumer prices and heat up inflation.

The Biden administration this week sent several signals of a toughening U.S. economic strategy against China.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, D.C., to announce bolstered military collaboration between the two allies and to showcase the strength of the U.S.-Japan economic relationship.

"We agreed that our two countries will continue to respond to challenges concerning China through close coordination," Kishida said at a joint press conference with Biden after their bilateral discussions.

Earlier in the week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivered tougher economic red lines on a visit to China.

Yellen amplified a concern shared by the United States and European Union members that Chinese companies are producing an overcapacity of cheap clean energy products like solar panels and electric vehicles. If there are not enough buyers for the supply, Beijing could dump them on global markets.

The U.S. has not ruled out future tariff hikes on Chinese imports if Beijing does not move to address the overcapacity concern, Yellen said in an interview with CNBC's Sara Eisen, following sessions with her Chinese counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng.

China has so far denied the overcapacity accusation as "groundless" and fired back that the