Trump Speaks Against Chinese Imports

The front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination just told his advisers that he is prepared to raise tariffs on all Chinese imports by 60 percent when he returns to the White House.

According to a report by the Washington Post, three people familiar with the matter relayed Trump’s plans. Though this information is an anonymous leak, it fits well with a plan Trump unveiled last year to revoke China’s most-favored-nation status and phase out all Chinese imports of goods essential to American security.

Communist takeover: Since the United States Senate voted to give China permanent most-favored-nation status on Sept. 19, 2000, America’s trade deficit with China has risen nearly fivefold, from $80 billion to $383 billion. America now relies on the Chinese Communist Party for everything from electronics to pharmaceuticals to steel.

Donald Trump is recommending drastic action to make America more self-sufficient.

Media meltdown: The Washington Post and other media outlets are condemning Trump for his plan, saying it will hurt American consumers by leading to higher prices of foreign-made goods. Yet these media outlets ignore the fact that Chinese-made goods are cheaper than American-made goods because China relies on slave labor. Many American elites hate Trump for threatening to cut off their access to Chinese sweatshops.

As journalist Lee Smith wrote in a 2020 editorial:

The central pillar of the corrupt new order is the American elite’s relationship with China. American political and corporate elites didn’t choose decline. They chose to get rich. By shipping America’s manufacturing base off to China, they seized a business opportunity the likes of which had never been seen before—an enormous captive labor force controlled by an authoritarian regime that guaranteed the steady production of goods at a fraction of what it would cost at home.

Learn more: Read “Wake Up to the Threat From China.”