President Trump called for Beijing to charge only reciprocal tariffs on Saturday, continuing his push to stop the “unfair trade” relationship between the U.S. and China.
“The United States hasn’t had a Trade Surplus with China in 40 years. They must end unfair trade, take down barriers and charge only Reciprocal Tariffs,” the president said in a tweet.
“The U.S. is losing $500 Billion a year, and has been losing Billions of Dollars for decades. Cannot continue!” he added.
The United States hasn’t had a Trade Surplus with China in 40 years. They must end unfair trade, take down barriers and charge only Reciprocal Tariffs. The U.S. is losing $500 Billion a year, and has been losing Billions of Dollars for decades. Cannot continue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2018
Trump threatened the Chinese on Thursday with a new $100 billion tariff plan after the U.S. announced it was seeking to charge tariffs on $50 billion on Chinese goods earlier in the week. After pledging to retaliate with $50 billion on U.S. goods to counter the U.S.’s $50 billion threat, China announced Friday that it would push back against all of Trump’s tariffs “at any cost.”
The recent tit-for-tat activity follows U.S. tariffs that were imposed earlier this year on Chinese steel and aluminum, which also prompted retaliatory measures from China.
The president has been a proponent of reciprocal tariffs, having made the point to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a meeting last year.
Larry Kudlow, the new director of the White House National Economic Council, has made a push to reassure investors and others over the $100 billion tariff threat, saying that “nothing is around the corner” on Thursday.
“This is not a trade war,” Kudlow added to reporters on Friday. “This process, it may include tariffs at the end of the day. It may also not. It may be solved by negotiation.”
Meanwhile, some within the Republican Party have criticized the president for escalating this trade fight. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., one of the president’s most outspoken critics on the Right, said that while he is all for taking on China for its behavior, the president’s actions are “the dumbest possible way to do this.”
“Hopefully the President is just blowing off steam again but, if he’s even half-serious, this is nuts,” Sasse said in a statement. “China is guilty of many things, but the President has no actual plan to win right now. He’s threatening to light American agriculture on fire.”
“Let’s absolutely take on Chinese bad behavior, but with a plan that punishes them instead of us,” he said. “This is the dumbest possible way to do this.”
