Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is asked about President Trump's China tariffs.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Leader Thun, with respect to tariffs, the White House has said that an additional 50% tariff will go on China if retaliatory tariffs by China are not taken down.
00:09This means that, according to some estimates, the tariffs could reach as high as 104%.
00:14What do you say to that, and what do you say to the markets in particular, which are very rattled by all of these tariffs?
00:19Well, look, and I think you've all covered this place long enough, I think everybody kind of knows my views on tariffs.
00:26But the fact of the matter is, the President ran on this.
00:30There wasn't a campaign event where he didn't talk about the importance of getting other countries to treat us more fairly when it comes to trade, bilateral trade, multilateral trade in this country.
00:43And 77 million people voted for him and his agenda, and I think he deserves the opportunity to see what kind of deals he can get from some of our trading partners.
00:51And I think most of us are giving him the space in which to do that and hope that he is successful, because that's good for not only for him and his administration, but it's good for the country.
01:02Given how important, though, the Chinese market is, specifically to South Dakota, soybean exporters, how concerned are you that China says it's going to fight until the end, indicating that they may not reach a deal for months or even longer than that?
01:14Well, and I think there's a lot of rhetoric right now, but I'm hoping that in the end that the Chinese, like a lot of other countries, will come to the table.
01:24There is clearly, in my view, room for negotiation that would achieve the objectives the president has laid out, and it could be to the benefit of both the U.S. and China.
01:38But at this point, I think where we are right now in the process is the president has made it very clear that he wants changes made, starting with fentanyl and the precursors that the Chinese makes and then distributes and gets into this country.
01:50But I think there are other, you know, reciprocal-type trading policies that could be implemented if the Chinese will come to the table and work with this administration.
02:05But I think you've got to give them room to do what they need to do.
02:08And, you know, China right now, that's a lot of hot rhetoric, but they are very dependent upon the U.S.
02:13They need us as a marketer.
02:14Do you think you want to pay more in prices as a result of these policies?
02:18You know, I think at the end of the day, and as I've said this before, and, you know, you asked the question about South Dakota and agriculture, yeah, there are all kinds of implications.
02:27These are, there are a lot of very intricate trading relationships that exist today across the world.
02:34And, you know, ultimately, we don't know what the economic impacts are going to be.
02:39We hope that the president is successful.
02:41And if he is and he gets some reciprocity from other countries around the world, you know, this may all be temporary.
02:47It may be something that the administration ultimately, you know, adopts a different policy with respect to individual countries that actually come to the table and work out deals.
02:58And if they do that, then ultimately I think that's a good thing for the American consumer.
03:02But, obviously, we're all paying attention, and I think the entire country is, to the implications of what's been proposed by the administration.
03:10And, you know, clearly we want to see an economy that's stronger and more robust, where you've got more jobs being created in this country.
03:18And, you know, the income gap in this country closing as we create better-paying jobs in a lot of places around the country that have suffered as a result of the loss of the manufacturing base that we've had here for a long time.