US-China immersed in a tit-for-tat tariff trade war
Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, D-N.J., on U.S. trade talks with China and the debate over immigration reform.
The United States is expected to increase tariffs Friday on $200 billion in goods, increasing from 10 percent to 25 percent -- unless the Trump administration and Chinese officials can agree on a trade deal.
“We should stay firm. It’s tough because certainly we want to see business do well and we do a lot of business and trade with china but here’s the deal: we have known for a long time whether it was money manipulation, whether it was stealing technology, and intellectual property that china in some cases has been eating our lunch and hasn’t been playing a fair game,” New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew (D) told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday.
During a Make America Great Again rally in Florida, President Trump reiterated his administration’s goal of establishing a fair and reciprocal trade deal with China.
“By the way, you see the tariffs we’re doing? Because they broke the deal,” he said on Wednesday.
The tariffs cover a wide range of industrial and consumer items—everything from handbags, luggage, furniture, clothing, and car tires, refrigerators, air conditioners, to railway equipment.
“While we wanna make sure that we’re being treated decently, fairly, and honestly. We do have businesses that are really suffering,” Van Drew, said.
Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin traveled to Beijing to further enhance trade talks.
“We’re close to done,” Mnuchin told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on securing a deal.
Lighthizer and Mnuchin thought China was willing to rewrite key national security and trade laws to reduce the theft of intellectual property, open its markets to U.S. financial firms and cut down on low cost goods overseas.
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Trump has threatened additional tariffs of $267 billion worth of goods, meaning all Chinese imports could be subject to tariffs.
“At this point in time, I think that we have to show China we do mean business,” Van Drew said. “When you want to get something done, you get it done, and you certainly can get it done in China.”
Beijing hit back with tariffs on $110 billion of American goods, accusing the U S. of starting "the largest trade war in economic history.”