In interviews on Sunday morning talk shows, administration officials defended the president\u2019s trade approach and emerging policy with regard to China.<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and his allies again assured the country on Sunday morning that they do not expect China to actually implement threatened tariffs that could rock the U. S. economy and hurt American farmers, especially those who grow soybeans or raise hogs.
\u2018\u2018China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do,\u2019\u2019 Trump said in a tweet on Sunday morning. \u2018\u2018Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!\u2019\u2019
In interviews on Sunday morning talk shows, administration officials defended the president\u2019s trade approach and emerging policy with regard to China. Both China and the United States have threatened to levy new tariffs on each other, in an escalating trade dispute.
\u2018\u2018No president has had the backbone to take it up publicly before,\u2019\u2019 Larry Kudlow, the new chairman of the National Economic Council, said on CNN\u2019S \u2018\u2018State of the Union.\u2019\u2019 \u2018\u2018So, I think he is exactly right. And I say to everybody on this, the problem here is China. It is not President Trump. China has been getting away with this for decades.\u2019\u2019
Kudlow said a \u2018\u2018coalition of the willing\u2019\u2019 was being formed to pressure President Xi Jinping, including by taking the issue to the World Trade Organization, to crack down on China\u2019s trade practices. Kudlow declined to release a full list of countries involved during an interview on \u2018\u2018Fox News Sunday,\u2019\u2019 but he said Australia, Canada and much of Europe were among them.
Administration officials tried to tamp down growing concerns about the impact of a trade war on farmers. They suggested the trade dispute may be resolved through negotiations and that the \u2018\u2018process may turn out to be very benign,\u2019\u2019 according to Kudlow.
But they said they plan on moving forward on new tariffs on China.
\u2018\u2018We\u2019re listening to the Chinese. We\u2019re willing to work with them,\u2019\u2019 Peter Navarro, director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said on NBC\u2019s \u2018\u2018Meet the Press.\u2019\u2019
\u2018\u2018But we\u2019re clear-eyed about this. We\u2019re moving forward on a measured way with tariffs, with investment restrictions,\u2019\u2019 Navarro added. \u2018\u2018What we want from China is very clear. We want fair and reciprocal trade.\u2019\u2019
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to comment on the substance of trade talks with China during an interview on CBS\u2019 \u2018\u2018Face The Nation.\u2019\u2019 And he sought to head off concerns that protectionist trade policies would disrupt the growth of the U. S. economy.
\u2018\u2018Whatever happens in trade, I don\u2019t expect it to have a meaningful impact on our economy. And the president has said – sectors like agriculture, he\u2019s prepared to defend,\u2019\u2019 Mnuchin said.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S. D., warned that new tariffs on American products could cripple farmers in his state, which relies heavily on exporting soybeans – the state\u2019s second-largest crop.
\u2018\u2018We\u2019re talking about a lot of money that goes down, just on the speculation of having a tariff put in place,\u2019\u2019 Rounds said on \u2018\u2018Meet the Press.\u2019\u2019
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., acknowledged that U. S. industries may take a short-term hit in the trade dispute, saying, \u2018\u2018There is no way for us to address China without absorbing some pain here.\u2019\u2019 But he defended Trump\u2019s plans as a sound long-term strategy.
\u2018\u2018At the end of the day, the president promised if he got to be president he would push back against China,\u2019\u2019 Graham said in an interview on ABC News\u2019 \u2018\u2018This Week.\u2019\u2019 \u2018\u2018That\u2019s exactly what he\u2019s doing. They\u2019re pushing back against us. I like our chances of prevailing if we stick with it.\u2019\u2019
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, sounded notes of both praise and caution for Trump\u2019s protectionist trade policies.
\u2018\u2018I think we need a more nuanced approach, but I give the president credit for levying these tariffs against the Chinese, with whom we\u2019ve talked for a decade about their unfair trade practices,\u2019\u2019 said Collins, appearing on \u2018\u2018State of the Union.\u2019\u2019
She added, \u2018\u2018This is costing us jobs in this country, and we do need to get tough with China. But we need to do so in a way that we do not spark a trade war.\u2019\u2019 Collins called it a \u2018\u2018very delicate balancing act.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n