White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow stressed Friday that President Trump threatening tariffs is a response to decades of Chinese economic policy in a roundtable with reporters.
“China has been practicing unfair and illegal trade practices for several decades,” Kudlow declared, adding “blame China, not Trump.” The new economic council director said that both he and Trump view China’s threat of retaliatory tariffs as “highly unsatisfactory,” but noted that talks are occurring to resolve the dispute through backchannels.
“We can’t let them steal our work…I don’t like to use tariffs, but sometimes you have to use tariffs,” Kudlow explained. Kudlow’s response comes a day after Trump announced his intention to impose tariffs on another $100 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Trump originally announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods in March, saying they were needed to protect U.S. intellectual property. That announcement drew a response from China that it would reciprocate.
“Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers. In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Trump declared in a statement.