Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue defended his administration’s strategy of levying tariffs on a number of foreign goods, arguing that the moves will be beneficial in the long run.
Perdue likened U.S. tariffs to a weight loss regimen during a television interview on Wednesday.
“First of all, we’ve got to acknowledge there is legitimate anxiety over the tariffs and the pain they’ve caused. I’ve kind of used a metaphor that I can personally identify with: It’s a little bit like weight loss. If you’re overweight and you go on a diet, it’s kind of painful to start with, but you’re healthier in the end,” explained the Agriculture Secretary while speaking to Fox News. “That’s exactly what President Trump’s message is.”
Perdue — who served as the governor of Georgia in the early 2000s before President Donald Trump appointed him to his administration — was speaking on behalf of a litany of tariffs that have been enacted on foreign imports. Trump levied tariffs on European and Chinese goods, arguing that they unfairly trade with the U.S., but their governments have returned fire with their own round of tariffs.
Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese products in July. Their government immediately responded with tariffs on U.S. vehicles, soybeans, pork and other commodities — worth a reciprocal $34 billion. The battle appears to have just started — a new 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods will take effect on Aug. 23. (RELATED: China Just Laid Down The Gauntlet, Proposes Tariffs On US Natural Gas)
The Republican president also enacted a 25 percent tariff on steel made in the European Union and a 10 percent tariff on their aluminum. The E.U. government, unsurprisingly, has responded with their own taxes on U.S. imports.
However, Trump argues these measures are necessary to bring world leaders to the negotiating table and eventually reach better trade relationship. When the president met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in July, the E.U. leader did pledge to increase trade relationships.
“President Trump is saying ‘enough, enough. If you want free trade, let’s have fair trade.’ And that’s the ultimate goal of bringing people to the table to say … ‘It’s kind of tilted here. Let’s level this playing field and allow our producers to compete competitively with yours and we’ll be fine,'” Perdue explained.
“Again, weight loss is a tough thing to go through, but look on that scale everyday.”
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