It is hard to understand the public meltdown over Donald Trump's promised tariffs on nations that cheat on trade agreements. This is exactly what he promised during the campaign.
When Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president in Cleveland on July 21, 2016, he said, “No longer will we enter into these massive deals, with many countries, that are thousands of pages long – and which no one from our country even reads or understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations, including through the use of taxes and tariffs, against any country that cheats.” Tariffs were directly referenced by Republican nominee Trump as a way to punish nations that cheat.
Trump went on to point out that China was one of the chief violators of unfair trade practices. Trump said, “This includes stopping China's outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating currency manipulation. Our horrible trade agreements with China and many others, will be totally renegotiated.” It is not disputed that China is a terrible nation when it comes to trade fairness.
Read Full Article »