Updated at 6:02 p.m.
Rep. Trey Gowdy said Friday “no one wins in a trade war,” breaking with President Trump’s confident stance on how the U.S. will fair in a possible trade conflict with China amid tit-for-tat threats of tariffs.
During an interview on Fox News, the South Carolina Republican acknowledged that a possible reason Trump won the 2016 presidential election was because of his protectionist platform, but he said he personally is a “fair trader” and that his state and district are no fans of trade wars.
“We are exporters. We are weary of trade wars,” Gowdy said. “I applaud the president for standing up for our manufacturers, but no one wins in a trade war and I hope all of this is just posturing for some more fairness from our trading partners.”
The U.S. has threatened tariffs on $150 billion worth of Chinese imports, and China has threatened to retaliate. Both of those threats have helped to sink global equities markets.
Gowdy’s comments break from the opinion of Trump, who said this week the U.S. “can’t lose” in trade war with China. “When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!” Trump tweeted, referring to the trade deficit.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Friday that trade wars under Trump will be ‘absolutely’ easy to win.
Gowdy’s sentiment was echoed by fellow South Carolina politician, Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who has been doing a book tour with Gowdy. He told Fox News, “no one wins with a trade war.”
