U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that controlling Covid-19 is the key to curbing inflation because the Joe Biden administration tried to prevent rising prices from undermining the U.S. economic recovery and the president’s legislative agenda.

“The pandemic has been calling the shots for the economy and inflation,” Yellen said in an interview with CBS Face the countryn program.

“If we want to reduce inflation, I think continuing to make progress in fighting the pandemic is the most important thing we can do.”

Fighting against rising prices has become the focus of Biden’s economic team. Last week, the US consumer price index in October increased by 6.2% from the previous year, the fastest increase since 1990.

Yellen said that many workers remain cautious about the risk of contracting the virus in the workplace, and outlined changes in consumer demand related to lock-in and new remote work models.

But she added that if the pandemic is brought under control, she expects the soaring prices of commodities such as used cars and gasoline to weaken in the second half of next year.

White House officials have been trying to ease price pressures by exploring ways to ease some supply chain bottlenecks. From semiconductor shortages to port delays, these bottlenecks are increasing costs. Biden spoke with major retailers including Wal-Mart and Target this week to discuss how to reduce price pressure.

Yellen admitted that the removal of Donald Trump-era tariffs from Chinese imports “will have some impact on inflation.” “Tariffs do raise domestic prices,” she said, but added that U.S. Trade Representative Catherine Tay is “re-examining” the phase one trade agreement with Beijing.

Last month, the Office of the United States Trade Representative initiated what it calls “frank” meetings with Beijing trade officials to discuss the “phase one” agreement reached in 2020. Many tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese imports still exist.

The White House economic adviser Brian Des argued on Sunday that Biden’s $1.75 trillion social expenditure and climate bill would help control inflation by helping families pay for housing and childcare, while at the same time increasing taxes on companies and the wealthy. Offset its investment.

“Inflation is high and it is affecting Americans and their wallets and prospects,” Diess said.

But Biden’s huge spending bill was criticized by Republican lawmakers, who said it would fuel inflation. It was also attacked by the centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who has key voting rights in a divided House, and expressed concern that these measures will further increase prices.

Diss told ABC News that he was “confident” that Biden’s package would be passed by the House of Representatives and entered the Senate this week.

Inflation concerns are one of the economic concerns, causing Biden’s support rate to drop to a new low. A new poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC on Sunday showed that 70% of Americans have a negative opinion of the economy, and 38% of them said that the economy is in “poor” conditions. About half of Americans blame Biden for high inflation.

Opinion polls show that the Democratic Party is showing disturbing signs in next year’s midterm elections. It found that if these elections were held today, 46% of voters would support Republican candidates for Congress, while 43% of voters would support Democrats.

Inflation concerns also arise when the Fed may transition, as Biden is weighing whether to reappoint Jay Powell as chairman or succeed him. On Sunday, Yellen declined to say whether she supported Powell’s re-election.

Yellen said: “I have said that I think Chairman Powell has done a very good job of managing the Fed and solving problems, especially when the pandemic strikes.” “But the important thing is that President Biden chose. An experienced and credible person with many candidates.”