Any protectionist agenda in the U. S. pales in comparison to China’s, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Any protectionist agenda in the U. S. pales in comparison to China’s, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Ross found himself defending the Trump administration’s America First mantra in a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday with a group of strong champions of globalization. “The Chinese for quite a little while have been superb at free-trade rhetoric and even more superb at highly protectionist behavior,” Ross said. “Every time the U. S. does anything to deal with a problem, we are called protectionist.”
Ross brushed off criticism that the U. S. is retreating from the world stage and leaving an opening for the world’s second-largest economy, China, to build influence. He said President Donald Trump just has a forceful leadership style that some people don’t like.
“We don’t intend to abrogate leadership, but leadership is different from being a sucker and being a patsy,” he said.
