Former President Trump says the potential for President Joe Biden to cut United States tariffs on China “would be the greatest gift that China could ever receive.”
For months, as Breitbart News has reported, Biden, along with his top globalists, has suggested that they may soon cut billions of dollars worth of U.S. tariffs on China-made products that were first imposed by Trump.
Most recently, reports have circulated that Biden is considering eliminating U.S. tariffs on $10 billion worth of China-made products like bicycles. This would come even as economists have admitted that cutting U.S. tariffs will have little-to-no impact on inflation.
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump blasted a potential move as a “terrible mistake” that would reward multinational corporations for outsourcing American manufacturing to China:
Believe it or not, it is looking more and more like the United States is getting ready to remove the tariffs on China. This would be a terrible mistake. These tariffs have brought many billions of dollars to our country, and made affected businesses, such as steel, viable again in the United States.
Doing this would be the greatest gift that China could ever receive. Our farmers alone got $28 billion as a gift from me, that came directly out of the tariffs because of the way they were abused by China. Taking these Tariffs off would be a clear signal that the United States is weak, ineffective, and doing business as usual.
Trump also called out Senate Republicans and Democrats who have lobbied Biden for months to cut U.S. tariffs on China. Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Todd Young (R-IN) have both sought to reduce the tariffs, as well as Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
“Certain Senators are fighting hard to get this done, even saying such ridiculous things as it ’causes inflation,’” Trump said. “Those Senators should be questioned as to their real motives!”
Analysis by Breitbart News has shown that tariffs do not raise prices on Americans. The latest research from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) notes that there is no connection between U.S. tariffs and current inflation.
In June, the United Steelworkers (USW) wrote to Biden, pleading with him not to cut U.S. tariffs on China:
Too many U.S. companies have failed to take needed actions to address the threat posed by Chinese Communist Party policies. Many continue to outsource production, and research and development, undermining U.S. competitiveness and national security interests. They have failed to respond to the signals clearly and continuously sent by the CCP that it is not interested in competing, but in winning and dominating key industries. Our government must act in the national interest to strengthen our economy for the future. [Emphasis added]
From 2001 to 2018, U.S. free trade with China eliminated 3.7 million American jobs from the economy — 2.8 million of which were lost in American manufacturing. During that same period, at least 50,000 American manufacturing plants closed down.
Those massive job losses have coincided with a booming U.S.-China trade deficit. In 1985, before China entered the WTO, the U.S. trade deficit with China totaled $6 billion. In 2019, the U.S. trade deficit with China totaled more than $345 billion.
Meanwhile, a study from 2019 found that permanent U.S. tariffs of 25 percent on all Chinese imports would create more than a million American jobs in five years. American manufacturing is vital to the U.S. economy, as every manufacturing job supports an additional 7.4 American jobs in other industries.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.