There’s been a lot of talk about tariffs lately, but some of it can be misleading. “Our trade policy is working in tandem with our other economic policies,” says the Biden Administration’s U.S. Trade Representative, Amb. Katherine Tai. Tariffs are a component of that policy. Economists have criticized the possibility of across-the-board tariffs on all imported goods, but tariffs can – and have been – a useful tool in economic and trade policy, when used strategically. “Tariffs and trade can and – in our view – must be used as part of a strategy for growing the middle class and empowering the working class,” Tai tells Ali Velshi. “That is the basis from which we proceed.”